UK: TREASURE BURIED FOR FIFTY YEARS BELONGING TO ONE OF GERMANY'S OLDEST ROYAL FAMILIES PREVIEWED AT LONDON AUCTION HOUSE

Record ID: 496306

  • Title: UK: TREASURE BURIED FOR FIFTY YEARS BELONGING TO ONE OF GERMANY'S OLDEST ROYAL FAMILIES PREVIEWED AT LONDON AUCTION HOUSE
  • Date: 14th December 1999
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (DECEMBER 14, 1999) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. MV: SILVER GILT TABLE SERVICE 0.07 2. CU: PHOTO OF FAMILY, TILT DOWN TO SERVICE 0.12 3. SV: SUGAR POT, PAN TO ANOTHER WHICH HAS BEEN CLEANED 0.18 4. SV: SOUNDBITE (English) SOTHEBY'S DIRECTOR MARCUS LINELL SAYING: "The story of the discovery of this silver is really good stuff not only when you find a treasure that is not just worth a little bit of money but is worth millions, its got to be exciting. 0.33 5. VARIOUS OF MOOR'S HEAD (4 SHOTS) 1.07 6. SV: PEOPLE LOOK AT MOOR'S HEAD 1.11 7. SV: SOUNDBITE (English) MARCUS LINELL SAYING: "Well that we expect to fetch somewhere between one and a half and two million pounds. Thats, it sounds like a huge sum of money and it is but its a completely stunning object - everybody who has seen it has not been complaining about the price - they have just been wondering about how they can raise the money" 1.31 8. SV: BASKET OF FLOWERS JEWEL CASKET ROTATING (2 SHOTS) 1.43 9. MV: PHOTO OF BASKET OF FLOWERS JEWEL CASKET BEFORE IT WAS CLEANED, PAN DOWN TO ROTATING BASKET OF FLOWERS JEWEL CASKET 1.51 10. CU: DETAIL OF BASKET OF FLOWERS JEWEL CASKET - DRAGON 1.58 11. SV: SOUNDBITE (English) MARCUS LINELL SAYING: "What happened was in 1945 as the Russians were advancing into Germany, the Saxon Royal family realized that their possessions would be almost certainly be taken away from them and so they go to some French Prisoners of war & their game keeper and they decided on a place in the woods near their castle. They dug an enormous hole and buried forty cases of silver and porcelain and that sort of thing." 2.27 12. SV: RED BOWL 2.38 13. SV: SHRINE 2.8 14. TILT UP FROM BASE OF SHRINE TO TOP 2.49 15. CU: HOUSE OF SAXONY COAT OF ARMS 2.53 16. CU: OLD PHOTO OF FAMILY 3.00 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 29th December 1999 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Reuters ID: LVAESI0ZF8LG7YIWUAYXACQES4HL
  • Story Text: Treasure belonging to one of Germany's oldest royal
    families which was buried in a forest to save it from the
    advancing Red Army and remained undetected for over fifty
    years has been previewed at a London auction house.

    As the Red army fought its way into Eastern Europe in
    1945, two of the grandsons of the last king of Saxony, Princes
    Dedo and Gero, hid their family valuables in a forest near
    their home, Moritzburg Castle close to Dresden in Germany, to
    prevent it from being plundered.

    The two princes, along with their gamekeeper and French
    prisoners of war, spent five nights digging two large pits
    where they buried forty crates packed with their family
    heirlooms.A further three crates were buried in another part
    of the forest known only to the two Princes.

    Two years later the game keeper was forced by a Red Army
    Commissaire to reveal the hiding place of the treasure.The
    forty crates were unearthed and their contents taken to
    Russia, much of it never to be seen again.

    But the second hiding place remained undetected until
    1996 when it was dug up by two amateur treasure hunters from
    Dresden.After negotiations with the State of Saxony, a large
    part of this treasure which includes, silver gilt items as
    well as coins, jewelry and porcelain will be auctioned at
    Sotheby's on Friday December 17, 1999.

    The auctioneers estimate the value of these remaining
    items to be around 3.2 million U.S.dollars, but hope the
    story of their recovery may introduce a higher bid.

    Although some of the items have suffered a lot of damage
    as a result of their 50 years underground, the majority of
    them emerged in the same condition as when they were buried in
    the early hours of February 10th, 1945.

    Among the items expected to attract a lot of interest
    are a Moor's head wedding cup which was made by Christoph
    Jamnitzer to celebrate the wedding of Maria Pucci and Filio
    Strozzi in 1615 and given to the Royal house of Saxony in
    1885.

    A jeweled casket in the shape of a basket of flowers
    adorned with enamel and precious stones, made by the court
    silversmith to Augustus the Strong is expected to fetch up to
    £400,000 and an 18th century diamond set shrine is estimated
    at between £70,000 and £100,000.


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