Neues zum Mainzer Goldschatz des 11. Jahrhunderts – die Entlarvung eines »Kunstkrimis aus der deutschen Kaiserzeit«, der keiner war

Abstract

In 1880 building workers discovered a treasure of 25 highly ornamented golden jewellery pieces from the 11^th century in the buried stone cellar of an old house in the centre of Mainz. O. von Falke published this find in 1913 and attributed it to the empress Gisela (1027-1043). According to new theories presented in a special exhibition in Darmstadt, the jewels were not found in Mainz, but probably on a field near Wiesbaden und did not belong to a treasure. Three pieces of jewellery with the function of regalia were supposedly faked in 1887 in an attempt to encourage the emperor Wilhelm II to buy the ensemble for an enormously excessive price. This contribution refutes all hypotheses. In fact, it is a treasure of most precious jewels by the majority from the first half of the 11^th century which had been stored in the treasure chamber of a stone building in the area of the Carolingian royal palace at Mainz and therefore are likely to have been in royal possession.