Celina S. Lubahn Greppler is Schmittmann-Wahlen Scholar and researcher at the Institute for International Peace and Security Law at the University of Cologne. Her PhD project focusses on the restitution of artefacts appropriated during the colonial period in the 19th and 20th century. Funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), she spent three months researching at the Institute for Arts and Culture, Conservation and Heritage (MACCH) at Maastricht University in 2024. Her main areas of interest include international cultural heritage law, political and legal philosophy, and the history of international law.
As a scholarship holder of the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes Celina graduated in Law at the University of Cologne and received her BA in Philosophy from Saarland University. With the support of a mobility grant from the Université de la Grande Région, she also attended lectures at the University of Luxembourg. Before studying she carried out her civil service with the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ) at the Associação Juvenil para o Desenvolvimento Comunitário in Inhambane, Mozambique. She graduated from Gymnasium Adolfinum Moers and spent a highschool year in Marcos Juárez, Argentina.
Between 2014 and 2015, Celina was part of the German delegation to the United Nations (General Assembly’s Third Committee and Commission for Social Development). As the German Youth Delegate she advised the diplomatic delegation in social, humanitarian and cultural issues. From 2021 to 2024, Celina advised the deutsche Entwicklungsfinanzierungsgesellschaft (KfW DEG) on regulatory and legal policy matters. She is a co-founder of the Cologne-based law firm Rolffs, where she works at the intersection of business, society, and politics, specializing in governance and compliance; environmental, climate, and social issues; as well as constitutional and international law.
She is a board member of the Cologne Center for Advanced Studies in International History and Law.
Current Research Project
Doctoral thesis on "the restitution of artefacts appropriated during the colonial period in the 19th and 20th century."
Lectures
Vom Königreich Preußen zum Deutschen Kaiserreich, vom Opfer zum Täter? Militärische Aneignungen von Kulturgütern im 19. Jahrhundert und eine Gedenkskulptur in Köln, Stipendiatentreffen der Schmittmann-Wahlen Stiftung, Köln: April 2024.
The Military Penal Code and the German "Schutzgebiete". The appropriation of Ateu Atsa's pipe-smokingLefem, Spark Session, Institute for Arts and Culture, Conservation and Heritage (MACCH), Maastricht University, Maastricht: February 2024.
The Military Penal Code and the German "Schutzgebiete". The appropriation of Ateu Atsa's pipe-smoking Lefem, Seminario hispano-alemán de Derecho Internacional, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Toledo: January 2024.
Über den europäischen Umgang mit Kulturgütern aus „Strafexpeditionen“ und sonstigen gewaltsamen Aneignungen in der Zeit von 1815 bis 1976 am Beispiel Ateu Atsas pfeiferauchendem Lefem. Summer School: „Kulturerbe im Transit“ der Université Paris-Saclay, LMU München und der Université franco-allemande, Bibracte: September 2023.
Die Rückgabe kolonialer Beutekunst. Regionales Völkergewohnheitsrecht in statu nasciendi?, Doktorand:innen und Habilitand:innenseminar „Kunst und Recht“, Koordinationsstelle Provenienzforschung NRW, Universität Bonn, July 2023.
(together with Paulina Rob): „From the Prohibition of the Use of Force to the Crime of Aggression. The Rule of International Law in the Midst of Crisis and War.“ Landecker Foundation Community Summit: May 2023.
“Anspruch auf Rückgabe kolonialer Beutekunst? Zur Entwicklung eines Völkergewohnheitsrechts”, Interdisciplinary Doctoral Colloquium, University of Cologne: July 2022.
“Die aktuellen Debatten um die Restitution von Kulturgütern kolonialer Herkunft – Die Benin-Bronzen”, Oberseminar Kolonialismus und Völkerrecht, University of Cologne: May 2022.
“Zur Rückgabe kolonialer Beutekunst: Was sagt ‘die Moral’ zum Völkerrecht?”, Workshop in Practical Philosophy, Saarland University: May 2022.
“Negotiating an UN-Resolution”, Seminar on Human Rights: History, Theories, Applications, Saarland University: June 2018.
Participation and Organization of Events:
Lecture Series: “Let’s talk about academic freedom”, University of Cologne, 2022/2023.
Spring Academy in Beijing: “Law, Jurisdiction and Society in the People's Republic of China”, Spring 2017.
Panel Discussion „Social Transformation as a Step towards Sustainability“ and art installation „Swap Your Shoe“, Side Event to the 53rd Session of the Comission on Social Development, Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nationals New York, February 2015.
Panel Discussion: „Human rights - universal, inclusive, interdependent?“, Side Event to the 59th Session of the General Assembly’s Third Committee, Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations New York, October 2014.
Publications
Articles:
Homann, J./Lubahn Greppler, C., 50 Jahre Rückführung von Kulturgut, VEREINTE NATIONEN, Vol. 72, 2/2024, pp. 64-69.
Lubahn-Greppler, C., The Return of the Benin Bronzes from Germany - On the Significance of the Joint Declaration between Germany and Nigeria in Light of European Restitution Practice, German Yearbook of International Law, Vol. 65, 2022, pp. 367-383.
