Nefertiti Returns to Pre-War Perch in Berlin

The priceless ancient bust of one of history's great beauties, Queen Nefertiti of Egypt, returned to Berlin's Museum Island Friday for the first time since World War Two. The elegant limestone figure dating from 1347 BC was removed from its plinth in 1939 to protect it from bombing. During the division of the city during the Cold War, it was displayed in a museum at the Schloss Charlottenburg palace in West Berlin. Overnight Friday, the world-famous bust returned to the Museum Island complex in the east of the reunified capital ahead of the opening of a special exhibition of Egyptian artifacts at the city's Old Museum on Saturday. Then in 2009, Nefertiti will move into the neighboring, freshly renovated New Museum. Cairo and Berlin have frequently crossed swords over the beautiful Nefertiti, which was unearthed by German archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt and removed from the country. Germany has based its claim to the work on a 1913 agreement which granted Nefertiti and a number of other important artifacts to their discoverers.