March 18, 1937 A cracked pot hid a silver treasure

Hundreds of years ago, someone buried a clay pot behind the fortifications of the Žatec fort. It was full of silver and gold jewelry and coins. In 1937, a digger named Weigert found this treasure. The depot weighed a total of 2.7 kilograms.

The pot was about sixty inches underground and a place marked with stone. Kopáč found it when he demolished a disused stable in the yard of the old inn Stará pošta on Chmelařské náměstí. The pot was filled to the brim with coins and silver hryvnia. Furthermore, jewelry as richly decorated earrings, two gold rings and pendants.

The treasure weighed a total of 2.7 kilograms and contained 494 items. Archaeologists have been thinking about the treasure under Žatec Square for over sixty years. They managed to identify all the coins found. These were Czech and German denarii. The youngest coin was the denarius of the Czech prince Jaromír, who ruled from 1004 to 1012.

According to this Czech coin, experts also determined what period it probably came from. It was clear that the digger had found the largest silver treasure from the Middle Ages that had ever been discovered in the Czech lands. But it was still necessary to find out who and why buried the pot full of coins and jewelry.

Helmut Preidel, a prominent pre-war archaeologist and educator, was the first to try. He dealt mainly with the period of migration of peoples and the period of fortifications. He also taught at several grammar schools in the Czech Republic. After the departure of Germany after World War II, he published books and studies on the archeology of Bohemia and Moravia.

He examined the location of the clay treasure pot. He came up with the theory that there was a market place and coins with jewelry were hidden by a rich buyer. Archaeologist Petr Holodňák, who has been working in the Žatec Museum since 1980, but questioned this idea. He believes that the treasure was hidden by a jeweler. "In addition to jewelry and coins, the pot also contained raw materials for the production of jewelry, so in the museum we think that the treasure belonged to a jeweler," explained Holodňák.

But there was no evidence for this version either. Archaeologists had a black-and-white photo in the pit and a drawing of the pot. Even the nephew of the former custodian of the museum said today that he was once expelled from the sandpit by some gentlemen. They arranged a treasure there so they could take pictures of it. Archaeologists have therefore decided to carry out new research. And they had the opportunity in 1994 as part of the reconstruction of utility networks.

They found the remains of iron furnaces and a piece of ceramic spoon with remnants of copper. They therefore asserted themselves in the idea that at the place where the pot was found, there was a specialized craft settlement where jewelry was made. In Chelčické náměstí, archaeologists discovered an earring that had the same composition as a wire from a pot. So the jeweler also sold his products. But why he buried the treasure is still unknown.

Seven years ago, the Zatec Museum exhibited a complete treasure for the first time, but only for one day. "This unique find is exhibited only exceptionally, because silver is sensitive to fluctuations in temperature and humidity," Holodňák explained at the time, why the exhibition lasted only a day.

Sources: www.muzeumzatec.cz, MF DNES, Deník Lučan