,
8 tweets,
3 min read
Read on Twitter
Here's a pretty cool story from a corner of the world I'm rather fond of. It was early in the 20th century when workmen digging in the Poerbitsch district of the Bavarian town of Kulmbach found something *incredible*... THREAD /1 
Buried in a sack was a substantial collection of gold flagons, chalices, chains, salt shakers and other tableware, representing an absolute fortune. Each piece had the marks of Augsburg or Nuremberg goldsmiths - arguably the best of the best. /2
So the mayor of the town steps in and commandeers the treasure while inquiries are made as to their ownership. Nobody can lay a decent claim to the collection - no paperwork or dusty old receipts from the family records. /3
To this day, they can be found in the Plassenburg - the enormous renaissance castle above the town, that is now the museum for the local district. So who did it belong to? Well, here's where historians and archaeologists step in. /4
Some painstaking following of paper trails, and examination of records taken at the time of discovery revealed that the gold treasure was almost certainly deposited by the members of the patrician family, the Gutterers - one of the richest in town. /5
Now, the thing you've got to understand about towns across mainland Europe is that, well, most have them have been destroyed by war a bunch. Kulmbach's suffered that fate a number of times - it was burned during the Thirty Years War. /6
The Gutterers had obviously buried their treasure to avoid it falling into enemy hands. Unfortunately, however, every single last member of the family died during the conflict - due to disease, war injuries or otherwise. There was simply nobody left to come retrieve them. /7
So, now the treasure sits in the Plassenburg as something owned by everyone. It's a handy reminder of just how devastating the Thirty Years War was, & the value of a little scholarship. It may not be world-shattering stuff, but I really enjoy these small tales of discovery. /FIN
