Florentine (diamond)
_black.png)
The “Florentine” (also “Grand Duke of Tuscany”, “Austrian”) is a historical diamond, last 137.2 carats , about the size of a walnut and yellow in color, it was of great clarity and had a beautiful sparkle. Finally it was in the form of a briolette with nine facets. The exact origin is unknown, this diamond was last in the possession of the Austrian imperial family, but has been missing since the 1920s after its owners lost it to a fraudster. At the time of its disappearance, it was considered the fourth largest diamond in the world.
History of the "Florentine"
The story of the Florentine is initially shaped by his unknown origin, then by a well-documented period in which he was mostly in the possession of the Habsburgs until the 1920s and his later disappearance and unknown whereabouts.
Origin of the "Florentine"
The exact origin of the stone, which became known as the "Florentine", is not certain. There are at least three possible ways in which the stone could have come into the possession of the Habsburgs . Two of the possible strands of events go back to Duke Charles the Bold of Burgundy (1467–1477), according to a third version it is said to have been Portuguese spoils of war.
First version: A mercenary was found after the Battle of Nancy in 1477
According to the first, as well as the second version, the stone, later known as the “Florentine”, was in the possession of Charles the Bold, who also counted Flanders and thus the most important transshipment locations for diamonds of that time ( Bruges and Antwerp ) to his domain and himself so the diamond from their own sphere of influence could have gotten. The diamond is said to have been cut for Karl the Bold by Ludwig van Berquen , the inventor of the diamond cut. What is certain is that he carried three diamonds with him in the Battle of Nancy , in which he fell, including a yellow-colored stone about the size of a walnut, which could have been the "Florentine".
After the battle, a Swiss soldier is said to have found the stone and picked it up, mistaking it for glass. He is said to have later sold it to the pastor of Montagny for the price of one guilder . He then sold the stone to the city of Bern for three francs. This is said to have tried to give the diamonds in Lyon on commission, but failed. After all, the Bernese citizen Bartholomäus May is said to have acquired the gemstone from the city for 5,000 guilders, whereby an agency fee of 400 guilders was incurred for the mayor, and resold it to Genoa for 7,000 guilders. There the Duke of Milan Ludovico Sforza , called "il Moro" (* 1452, † 1508) is said to have acquired it. This then possibly passed it on to Pope Julius II . He is said to have stayed in the Vatican until he came under Pius V to the Medici , who at that time were Grand Dukes of Tuscany. In 1657 Jean-Baptiste Tavernier saw a stone similar to the "Florentine" in the possession of the Medici and described it. Tavernier is said to have named him for the first time. After the Medici died out in 1737, Franz Stephan , the husband of Maria Theresa of Austria, became Grand Duke of Tuscany and is said to have become the owner of the stone, which at that time bore the title "Grand Duke of Tuscany". He transferred it into the ownership of the Habsburgs, Maria Theresa is said to have shortened its name to "Florentine".
Second version: the booty of the city of Basel after the Battle of Nancy in 1477
According to the second version, the diamond is said to have fallen to the city of Basel after the battle. This is said to have sold the stone to the Fuggers . The English King Henry VIII is said to have acquired the diamond from these in 1547. With the marriage of Philip II to Mary of England , the daughter of Henry VIII, the "Florentine" is said to have come to the House of Habsburg.
Third version: Portuguese spoils of war in India
According to a third version, Portuguese troops are said to have looted the rough diamond from the ruler of Vijayanagar ( Narsingha ) in India and brought it to Goa . The governor of Goa, Ludovico Castro, Count of Montesanto, is said to have sold the stone to the Grand Duke of Tuscany Ferdinand I for 35,000 escudos . He is said to have commissioned the Venetian diamond cutter Pompeo Studendoli to grind the rough diamond. Studandoli is said to have finished the cut in 1615 after four years of work. As in the first version, it came to Habsburg through Maria Theresa's husband.
History of the “Florentine” up to the beginning of the First World War
The “Florentine” was opened to the public together with other parts of the crown treasure in the vaulted hall of the Hofburg. The "Florentine" rested in the showcase XIII.
In the only known photo taken before 1918, the “Florentine” was part of a hatagraffe .
The “Florentine” since the end of the monarchy
With the end of the First World War , there were also unrest in Austria and a republic was proclaimed. On the night of October 31st to November 1st, 1918, Colonel Chamberlain Leopold Graf Bechthold went to the treasury on behalf of the Austrian Emperor Karl I and removed the Habsburg family jewelery from showcase 13, which was already legally dated during the time of Maria Theresa was separated from pure state property. With this jewelry, to which the "Florentine" belonged, he first went to the Emperor at Schönbrunn Palace. On November 4, 1918, he set off for the Westbahnhof train station in Vienna to take the jewelry to Switzerland. However, the chief treasurer was stopped at the train station by railway workers who had joined the "Reds". These invoked an imperial law that forbade the export of valuables abroad during the war. However, after consulting with the police chief, they let Leopold Graf Bechthold leave the country with the jewelry. He drove to Zurich and deposited the valuables with the Swiss National Bank .
When it became known shortly afterwards that the jewelery was being transported, the discussion about the nationalization of the Habsburg property began. The export of valuables became a political issue. As a result of this discussion, the Habsburg laws of 1919 and 1921 came about with the nationalization of property of the Habsburg family and the abolition of titles of nobility in Austria. Karl had to abdicate and leave Austria with his wife Zita . Outside of Austria, they had no wealth at their disposal, as they had not taken the Habsburg private fortune out of the country. Only the jewelry was left to them.
In order to be able to turn the rescued valuables into money, they turned to a former financial advisor to the heir to the throne, Franz Ferdinand , a certain Bruno Steiner, who was murdered in 1914 in their Swiss exile .
In 1919 Bruno Steiner contacted the gemstone dealer Alphons Sonderheimer. This did not belong to the first line of gem dealers and could not raise the necessary funds for the complete sale of the valuables. But through him the French-based Jacques Bienenfeld could be won as a financier. The agreement between Sonderheimer and Steiner looked like that, Sonderheimer only wanted to purchase the gemstones himself, so they were broken from the respective settings. He also paid Steiner a ten percent commission, which the former emperor was not to learn about. Steiner also secretly kept the precious metal of the frames.
On the part of the former imperial family, a distinction was made between valuables that could be sold and those that were important to the family and that should not be sold under any circumstances. The latter also included the “Florentine”. In 1921 Karl von Habsburg urgently needed a large sum of money to carry out the second restoration attempt in Hungary. Steiner thereupon agreed to deposit objects of value that were not considered for sale as pledge for a loan of 1.6 million Swiss francs . Thanks to the good earnings from the business with Steiner, Sonderheimer was able to raise this sum this time without Bienenfeld's help. Karl von Habsburg assumed that he would be able to redeem the valuables after the restoration as King of Hungary. Sonderheimer assumed that this would not be possible for him. In October 1921, the former imperial family left for Hungary to ascend the throne there. This attempt at restoration failed on October 23, 1921. Karl and his family had to go to Madeira , which the British had designated as exile . While the Habsburgs were absent, Bruno Steiner, accompanied by Bienenfeld, appeared at Sonderheimer's home and claimed that he was authorized to redeem the precious items, and the necessary sum was given to Sonderheimer. Afterwards Steiner disappeared in the direction of Wiesbaden. When Karl's wife, Zita von Bourbon-Parma, returned to Switzerland with the help of a Portuguese passport on January 12, 1922, she found that Steiner had disappeared with the valuables. It is assumed that this also included the "Florentine".
Possible whereabouts of the Florentine
Since then he has been considered lost. It may have been split into smaller stones to obscure its origin.
There are many rumors surrounding the whereabouts of the diamond. Two diamonds that appeared at auctions were said to be parts of the "Florentine".
Diamond appeared on the American market in 1923
In 1923, a cushion-shaped, 99.52-carat yellow diamond was launched on the American market, which was named "Shah d'Iran" (Shah of Persia). There were rumors that it might have been the redesigned "Florentine". This was countered by a story of the “Shah d'Iran” - it is said to have been a diamond that Nadir Shah (King of Persia) found in the treasure looted there after taking Delhi .
Unnamed diamond found at Christie's auction in 1981
During the autumn auction of Christie's auction house in Geneva in November 1981, an unusually large yellow diamond of 81.56 carats was named under item 710, which should be nameless. It was framed by fourteen small diamonds on a gold chain with a back clasp. The diamond went to a telephone bidder for 600,000 Swiss francs. Christies can no longer determine the provider because the obligation to record all consignors was lifted in 1980. From a technical point of view, it is doubted that a stone of this size could remain in the split of the “Florentine”.
The Florentine in Art and Literature
In his novel Vastas emoções e pensamentos imperfeitos ( Eng . Boundless Feelings, Unfinished Thoughts , 2003), first published in 1988, the Brazilian crime writer Rubem Fonseca uses the Florentine as MacGuffin . In the German translation, the Portuguese name for the diamond (Florentino) is retained.
Rolf Ackermann took up the Florentine as a theme in his book Der Fluch des Florentiners , published in 2006 .
See also
literature
- Wolfgang Meyer-Hentrich: The Kaiser Diamond. In: Wolfgang Ebert (ed.): Hunter lost treasures. Adventurous expeditions. Piper, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-492-23662-6 .
- Günter Wermusch: Adamas. Diamonds in history and stories. 2nd Edition. Verlag Die Wirtschaft, Berlin 1985.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Unionsverlag / UT metro 270, ISBN 978-3-293-20270-2 .
- ↑ Droemer / Knaur 2006, ISBN 3-426-19708-1 .
