Nachbildung Goldschtz ausgestellt Foto B

The Eberswalde Hoard or Treasure of Eberswalde (german: Eberswalder Goldschatz or ) is a

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

hoard of 81

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

objects with a total weight of . The largest prehistoric assembly of gold objects ever found in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, it is considered to be one of the most important finds from the

Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the a ...

an Bronze Age, and is attributed to the

Nordic Bronze Age The Nordic Bronze Age (also Northern Bronze Age, or Scandinavian Bronze Age) is a period of Scandinavian prehistory from c. 2000/1750–500 BC. The Nordic Bronze Age culture emerged about 1750 BC as a continuation of the Battle Axe culture (th ...

culture. Today, it is in Russia, as part of the group of artifacts and works of art looted from Germany at the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

Discovery

Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte Berlin 096

The hoard was discovered 1 m (3 ft) below the ground surface on May 16, 1913, during excavations for a house within the grounds of a brass factory at Finow (

Oberbarnim Oberbarnim is a municipality in the district Märkisch-Oderland, in Brandenburg, Germany. The municipality is situated largely in the Märkische Schweiz Nature Park Märkische Schweiz Nature Park is a nature park and reserve in the district of ...

), part of

Eberswalde Eberswalde () is a major town and the administrative seat of the district Barnim in the German State ( Bundesland / ''federated state'') of Brandenburg, about 50 km northeast of Berlin. Population 42,144 (census in June 2005), geographi ...

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 sq ...

. The factory supervisor alerted

Carl Schuchhardt Carl Schuchhardt (August 6, 1859 – December 7, 1943) was a German archaeologist and museum director. For many years, he was the director of the pre-historic department of the Ethnological Museum of Berlin. He was involved in numerous excavations ...

, the director of the Prehistoric Department of the Royal Museums at

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, who acceded the hoard to that collection.

Description

The hoard had been deposited in a globular vessel with a lid. In it were eight gold bowls, which contained another 73 gold objects. The bowls were thin-walled chased gold vessels with copious ornamental decoration. The other objects included neck rings, bracelets and 60 wire arm spirals. 55 double spirals were tied into bundles. A gold

ingot An ingot is a piece of relatively pure material, usually metal, that is cast into a shape suitable for further processing. In steelmaking, it is the first step among semi-finished casting products. Ingots usually require a second procedure of sha ...

, a piece of metal shaped like a

crucible A crucible is a ceramic or metal container in which metals or other substances may be melted or subjected to very high temperatures. While crucibles were historically usually made from clay, they can be made from any material that withstands te ...

and two smaller pieces probably represent raw material for the production of such objects. The treasure belongs to the goldsmith known as Villena-type, for its resemblance to the Treasure of Villena.

Origin, date

The hoard used to be thought to represent the stores of a merchant. More recent research suggests that it was of religious significance. The hoard is dated to the 9th century BC.

Similar Artefacts

Compare Eberswalde bowls with the Bowls of Axtroki (Guipuzcoa) and the Treasure of Villena (Alicante): File:Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte Berlin 021.jpg, Eberswalde Hoard File:Cuencos de Axtroki (M.A.N. 1973-77-2) 01.jpg, One of the two bowls found in Axtroki File:Tesoro de Villena (26826844061).jpg, Treasure of Villena

Later history

After the end of the

in 1945, the Eberswalde Hoard disappeared from the Berlin museum, along with the so-called "Treasure of Priam". The suspicion that the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

might have removed both finds was denied by the

Soviets Soviet people ( rus, сове́тский наро́д, r=sovyétsky naród), or citizens of the USSR ( rus, гра́ждане СССР, grázhdanye SSSR), was an umbrella demonym for the population of the Soviet Union. Nationality policy in ...

for decades. After Russian president

Boris Yeltsin Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...

admitted that "Priam's Treasure" was in Russian hands, the authorities ceased to explicitly deny that they also held Eberswalde Hoard. In 2004, a reporter from German magazine '' Der Spiegel'' located it in a secret depot within

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

's Pushkin Museum. Germany has requested return of the materials, and the issue has caused tension between the German and Russian governments. Reproductions of the hoard are on display at the Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte in Berlin and the Stadt- und Kreismuseum in

. The Eberswalde replica is by local goldsmith Eckhard Herrmann.Märkische Oderzeitung, October 24, 2006

Literature

* Carl Schuchhardt: ''Der Goldfund vom Messingwerk bei Eberswalde''. Berlin 1914.

References

{{coord, 52, 50, 46, N, 13, 43, 23, E, source:dewiki, display=title Archaeological discoveries in Germany Germanic archaeological artifacts 1913 archaeological discoveries Bronze Age Germany 1913 in Germany History of Brandenburg Treasure troves of Germany Treasure of Eberswalde Bronze Age art Gold objects Art crime Antiquities of the Pushkin Museum Stolen works of art Germany–Russia relations Ancient art in metal