A treasure trove of gold and jewellery has been found buried on the side of a mountain in what historians say could have been an attempt to hide it from invading Nazis.
Hikers came across the 15.4lb (7kg) hoard worth over £250,000 after taking a short cut on the wooded slopes of the Czech Republic’s northeastern Podkrkonosí Mountains.
Described as one of the most exceptional finds in modern Czech history, the stash includes hundreds of coins, ornate jewellery, cigarette cases and a delicately woven silver purse.
Head of archaeology at the Museum of East Bohemia Miroslav Novak said: ‘I was called to say that a person who had found something was coming to see me.
‘When he opened it, my jaw dropped.
‘The men first found an aluminium can, part of which protruded above the surface, and about a meter from it an iron box.
‘The can contained 598 coins, divided into 11 columns, each wrapped in black cloth.
‘The metal box contained a total of sixteen snuff boxes, ten bracelets, a wire bag, a comb, a chain, and a powder compact. All made of yellow metal.
A treasure trove of gold and jewellery has been found buried on the side of a mountain in what historians say could have been an attempt to hide it from invading Nazis
After the Munich Agreement of September 29 that year, the majority of Jews and 200,000 Czechs moved to the interior of the country to escape the anticipated persecution in the territories annexed by Hitler. Above: German-speaking schoolchildren welcome German dictator Adolf Hitler in the Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia, 1938
‘For certain the coins are solid gold. We will need to analyse the rest but at the current price of precious metals, the value of the find can start at 7.5 million [Czech] Crowns (£250,000).
‘The historical value of the treasure, however, is incalculable.’
Although the discovery was made in February, museum officials have only now made the information public.
Experts are now trying to determine how the treasure ended buried up on the side of the mountain.
Nowak said: ‘To store valuable objects in the ground in the form of treasures, so-called depots have been common practice since the prehistoric times.
‘At first, religious movements were more common, later it was property stored in uncertain times with the intention of returning later for it.’
One theory is that the treasure could have been hidden following Nazi Germany’s annexation of the parts of the country collectively known as the Sudetenland in 1938.
After the Munich Agreement of September 29 that year, the majority of Jews and 200,000 Czechs moved to the interior of the country to escape the anticipated persecution in the territories annexed by Hitler.
Hikers came across the 15.4lb (7kg) hoard worth over £250,000 after taking a short cut on the wooded slopes of the Czech Republic’s northeastern Podkrkonosí Mountains. Above: The coins are solid gold
A series of ornate cigarette cases and bangles feature in the hoard
One theory is that the treasure could have been hidden following Nazi Germany’s invasion of the Sudeten part of the country in 1938
Another theory is that it could have belonged to Germans who were ousted by Stalin’s communists at the end of the war.
Museum director Petr Grulich said: ‘It is difficult to say whether this is the gold of a Czech who had to leave the occupied territory after the Nazi invasion of 1938, the gold of a German who feared displacement after 1945, or Jewish gold.
‘It could also be stolen goods from an antique shop, but we are not inclined to this option.’
Numismatist Vojtěch Brádle said: ‘The treasure was hidden in the ground for a maximum of slightly over a hundred years.
‘According to the dates stamped, it contains coins from 1808 to 1915.
‘These are Austria-Hungary and Franz Joseph I.
‘I found out that these coins did not travel from the Vienna mint to us, but to the Balkans.
‘And there, after the collapse of the monarchy, in the then Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians, marks, so-called countermarks, were minted.
‘This marking was still used there during the 1930s.
‘So we know that the coins were in Serbia sometime in the 1920s and 1930s, but we have no idea how and when they got to eastern Bohemia.’
He added that for some time the coins were used as part of a necklace or headdress typical of Balkan costumes.
German troops enter Schonlinde (Krasna Lipa) in the Sudetenland, as Nazi Germany annexes the region, October 2, 1938
What was the Munich Agreement?
The Munich Agreement was signed on September 30, 1938, as an attempt to appease Adolf Hitler.
Hitler had his eye on the Sudentenland in Czechoslovakia.
Around three million people who lived in the region were of German origin.
As the Soviet Union had a treaty with Czechoslovakia they rushed to the country’s defence.
Britain and France also became involved.
Neville Chamberlain holds his umbrella as he stands next to Hitler whilst meeting German general Wilhelm Keitel in Munich, September 1938
As Hitler made speeches about Germans coming home it appeared war was imminent.
Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain met with the Fuhrer twice before the Munich Agreement was proposed.
The agreement, which had no input from Czechoslovakia, annexed the Sudentenland to Germany.
The hope was that appeasing Hitler would stop his aggression.
At the time Prime Minister Chamberlain was hailed by some as a hero for his actions in bringing about the agreement.
He declared in London after signing the agreement: ‘My good friends, for the second time in our history, a British Prime Minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honour.
‘I believe it is peace for our time. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Go home and get a nice quiet sleep.’
Less than a year later, Hitler’s invasion of Poland triggered the start of the Second World War
