March 26, 2012 Silver treasure from Prague

At first they thought they had found a mess. Only after a while did the workers working in the house in Dušková Street realize what they had actually discovered. There were 493 kilograms of treasure in wooden crates. It was mainly silver objects.

The workers found the treasure as early as 2009. Three years later, the Prague City Council rewarded it. Each of the three workers received 200,000 crowns. The municipality was not obliged to pay them anything, but with this gesture it wanted to motivate other finders to report the discovery of valuables properly. The reward was then approved by councilors. They also took into account the fact that thanks to the Prague depot, it became rich by six million crowns.

Such is the value of the treasure that the three workers found. One kick with a pickaxe into the wall was enough. The workers were the first to look at each other incomprehensibly, because they had no idea what they had come across. "It simply came to our notice then. Behind the wall were wooden crates. When we opened them, we saw silver. We discovered the cavity and a treasure appeared, "one of the finders, Ruslan Gulchij, recalled at the time.

At that time, the treasure was taken over by the Museum of the Capital City of Prague. They found that it weighed a total of 493 kilograms and estimated its value at exactly six million and 280 thousand. As no one applied for the objects within the legal period of six months, they became the property of the city.

The treasure contained mainly silver things. According to experts from the museum, it was tableware, perfume bottles, bracelets, cups, trays, trays or candlesticks, some with an unfinished finish, material ready for further processing and a large number of coins of various kinds.

It dates mainly from the first half of the twentieth century and was probably added to the site before or after the Second World War. "I believe that the author of the processed objects and the owner of the company was Josef Vokurka, a Prague silversmith and chiseler. He was a graduate of the CK School of Applied Arts. He has been active in the field since 1908. In 1909, he received the award of the Board of Trustees of the Museum of Applied Arts, "said Světlana Spiwoková, a metal restorer of the Museum of Applied Arts in Prague.

It was relatively common for people to hide family property in this way at the time of the arrival of the Red Army. They feared they would lose their wealth. However, finding such an amount of silver is relatively unique, especially in Prague.

Sources: www.praha.eu, www.sedmicka.cz