Chiemsee Cauldron
Encyclopedia
The Chiemsee Cauldron is a gold cauldron found at the bottom of Lake Chiemsee
in Bavaria
in 2001. It was recovered by an amateur diver who found it about 200 m from the shore near Arlaching, Chieming
municipality.
The cauldron is ornamented with figures reminiscent of the style of the Gundestrup cauldron
.
It has a diameter of 50 cm and a height of 30 cm, and is made from 10.5 kg of 18 carat gold.
Ludwig Wamser of the Bavarian State Archaeological Collection analysed the find, and based on the soldering technique used identified it as a 20th-century forgery, possibly made during the Nazi era.
This seemed to be confirmed by a witness; the senior director of the Munich jeweler's company Theodor Heiden stated that the company's goldsmith, Alfred Notz, before his death in the 1960s had told him about a "golden cauldron weighing more than 10 kilograms, with a figurative ornament and manufactured by means of the paddle and anvil technique" which had been manufactured in Theodor Heiden's workshop between 1925 and 1939, commissioned by Albert Pietzsch, director of Elektrochemische Werke München.
Pietzsch had been in personal contact with Hitler from 1920, and was known to have provided him with generous donations. He became a member of the Nazi party in 1927 and rose to the position of Military Economy Leader (Wehrwirtschaftsführer) and president of the Reich Chamber of Commerce (Reichswirtschaftskammer). He survived the war and died in 1957. Because of its association with the Nazi elite, the cauldron was dubbed "Hitler's bedpan" (Hitlers Nachttopf) by the media.
The Bavarian state and the finder agreed to sell the find on the open market and share the proceedings. The cauldron was bought by an investor for EUR 300,000, at the time about twice the market value of the gold.
The buyer, a Swiss entrepreneur, tried to attract investors by claiming that the market value of the cauldron may be above a quarter billion Euros. Investors from Kazakhstan filed suit against the Swiss businessman in 2006. The cauldron was confiscated by the Zürich
authorities in 2007.
The fraud trial opened on 27 October 2010.
The defendant claims to have found a new buyer for the cauldron who is prepared to pay CHF 7 million, which would allow him to satisfy all claims against his firm.
Chiemsee
Chiemsee is a freshwater lake in Bavaria, Germany, between Rosenheim, Germany, and Salzburg, Austria. It is often called the Bavarian Sea. The rivers Tiroler Achen and Prien flow into the lake; the river Alz, out of it...
in Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
in 2001. It was recovered by an amateur diver who found it about 200 m from the shore near Arlaching, Chieming
Chieming
Chieming is a municipality in the district of Traunstein in Bavaria, Germany.- Etymology :The name Chieming, Chiemsee and the name of the area Chiemgau go back to the Old High German personal name Chiemo...
municipality.
The cauldron is ornamented with figures reminiscent of the style of the Gundestrup cauldron
Gundestrup cauldron
The Gundestrup cauldron is a richly-decorated silver vessel, thought to date to the 1st century BC, placing it into the late La Tène period. It was found in 1891 in a peat bog near the hamlet of Gundestrup, in the Aars parish in Himmerland, Denmark...
.
It has a diameter of 50 cm and a height of 30 cm, and is made from 10.5 kg of 18 carat gold.
Ludwig Wamser of the Bavarian State Archaeological Collection analysed the find, and based on the soldering technique used identified it as a 20th-century forgery, possibly made during the Nazi era.
This seemed to be confirmed by a witness; the senior director of the Munich jeweler's company Theodor Heiden stated that the company's goldsmith, Alfred Notz, before his death in the 1960s had told him about a "golden cauldron weighing more than 10 kilograms, with a figurative ornament and manufactured by means of the paddle and anvil technique" which had been manufactured in Theodor Heiden's workshop between 1925 and 1939, commissioned by Albert Pietzsch, director of Elektrochemische Werke München.
Pietzsch had been in personal contact with Hitler from 1920, and was known to have provided him with generous donations. He became a member of the Nazi party in 1927 and rose to the position of Military Economy Leader (Wehrwirtschaftsführer) and president of the Reich Chamber of Commerce (Reichswirtschaftskammer). He survived the war and died in 1957. Because of its association with the Nazi elite, the cauldron was dubbed "Hitler's bedpan" (Hitlers Nachttopf) by the media.
The Bavarian state and the finder agreed to sell the find on the open market and share the proceedings. The cauldron was bought by an investor for EUR 300,000, at the time about twice the market value of the gold.
The buyer, a Swiss entrepreneur, tried to attract investors by claiming that the market value of the cauldron may be above a quarter billion Euros. Investors from Kazakhstan filed suit against the Swiss businessman in 2006. The cauldron was confiscated by the Zürich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
authorities in 2007.
The fraud trial opened on 27 October 2010.
The defendant claims to have found a new buyer for the cauldron who is prepared to pay CHF 7 million, which would allow him to satisfy all claims against his firm.