Treasure hunt
In the treasure hunt is contrary to the treasure , the random and unintentional happens usually to the targeted search for lost or hidden valuables. It is also to be differentiated from the search for mineral resources , since a treasure, in the narrower sense, is artifact , not naturally occurring raw material .
In ancient times and in the early Middle Ages, the idea of finding wealth through a treasure hunt was hardly widespread. On the other hand, the graves of great rulers or saints were actively sought, as symbols of worldly power or divine assistance in the context of the cult of relics . In the High and Late Middle Ages, some rulers initiated isolated searches in Roman ruins and prehistoric monuments in the hope of appropriating treasures. In the early modern period , this idea then became widespread. The (forbidden) magical practices and beliefs associated with the treasure hunt, such as dowsing or the conjuring of the treasure-guarding demons and ghosts, are reflected both in the extensive legends of the time and in the court files of the occasional treasure-hunt trials . Linked to the topos of the treasure hunt is the belief in a golden age in the past, compared to which the present represents a degeneration.
With the slow change of the early modern class society towards the modern, bourgeois performance society , there was a clear secularization of treasure folklore . The belief in ghosts and ghosts almost completely disappeared. Instead of moral edification, treasure stories offer adventure above all . The hope of getting rich quickly without work suppresses the hope of socially acceptable prosperity. The treasure hunt becomes a commercial venture, preceded by historical research and carried out using archaeological or mining methods. Both operated with great technical effort commercial treasure hunt as well as the more hobby even Sondengängerei operates in the gray area between real archaeological research and so-called Raubgräberei , as well as between state and private ownership claims from landowners, museums and antique shops . In addition, remnants of magical thinking have also been preserved, such as the use of pendulums or dowsing rods instead of metal detectors .
Ancient and Middle Ages
Accidental treasure finds are already known from antiquity and the Middle Ages and the ownership rights between the finder, landowner and sovereign were regulated by law (in a wide variety of ways). However, it is hardly known that there was a targeted search for treasures. Caesar had the tomb of Alexander the great searched, Augustus had it opened and Caligula took Alexander's armor. However, this was not primarily about taking possession of wealth, but about staging rule.
In medieval England the treasure shelf was interpreted particularly strictly: All valuables found automatically fell into the property of the crown; Finders and landowners came away empty-handed. For this reason, King Johann Ohneland , who notoriously suffered from lack of money, was the first to search Roman ruins for treasures in 1201, albeit largely unsuccessfully. Henry III. ordered the seizure of a treasure allegedly found on the Isle of Wight and a search for more treasures in the area. In the late Middle Ages and the early modern period, other European sovereigns occasionally had treasures digged, mostly in remains from Roman times, and in Germany and Scandinavia also in burial mounds. The artefacts unearthed aroused the antiquarian interest of humanistic scholars, even if it was not gold and silver. Wealthy citizens and nobles began to buy antiques for their collections, and the sovereigns commissioned systematic inventories of the existing monuments. Here, and in an effort to keep predatory graves away from the sites, one can see the first beginnings of professional archeology and monument protection .
The church was fundamentally opposed to the treasure hunt. Hoarding and hiding a treasure was seen as an expression of greed and avarice , as was the search for it, and Avaritia was the second of the seven deadly sins . In addition, treasure hunters were always suspected of engaging in magical practices, theoretically a fatal offense. On the other hand, the search for relics that were needed for the consecration of a church was very similar to a treasure hunt. Although the relics themselves were mostly worthless materially (bones, hair, etc.), the possession of relics of famous saints was enormously prestigious and then represented the actual church treasure because of the income from the pilgrimage . However, the original resting places of the martyrs and saints were often not known for sure and it took lengthy research (or a miracle) to locate it. Since the failure of such searches would have damaged both the reputation of the initiator and that of the saint sought, they were usually carried out secretly at night, and only made public if successful. Some elements of the legendary reports about the transfer of relics have found their way into the treasure sagas of the early modern period in a secularized form.
The recovery of Charlemagne's grave in Aachen Cathedral, under the personal direction of Emperor Otto III. , also took place at night and in fog, but is more in the tradition of the Caesars at Alexander's tomb.
Early modern age
Since the late Middle Ages the kings of England granted licenses to treasure hunters. Similar to the letters of piracy for privateers, they regulated the portion that was to be paid to the crown. The license holders bore the entire risk and the costs, but in return they no longer came under the draconian threats of punishment for robbers. Sometimes, however, such licenses were obtained for fraudulent purposes. In 1521, a certain Robert Curzon obtained the right to hunt treasure in Suffolk and Norfolk from Henry VIII . Instead of looking for treasure himself, however, he blackmailed anyone who was even suspected of doing this activity without a license. Curzon's victims were forced to buy expensive sub-licenses from him.
In the Holy Roman Empire , due to the lack of central power, the emperor issued only a few treasure hunt licenses, the princes in the territorial states all the more. The rules were very different from case to case (as was the whole legal situation), but the government often avoided specifying a fixed division key. In the event of success, she reserved the option of withholding larger parts of the find. On the other hand, the princes also commissioned treasure hunters of their own accord, similar to gold makers. Apparently they ignored the use of forbidden magic generously and also accepted the risk of being caught by a fraudster. Unsuccessful treasure hunters, however, got into a delicate position. In 1606 , Duke Friedrich von Württemberg commissioned a certain Thomas Mayer as a treasure hunter. After the Duke had already executed several court alchemists, he committed suicide in the Achalm ruins .
The professional treasure magicians, who were hired by wealthy private individuals, came for the most part from two very different population groups: first, the (lower, less orthodox) Catholic clergy, second, the traveling people . Catholic clergy in particular, as potential exorcists , were trusted to conjure up the demons and ghosts who guarded the treasure, even in Protestant areas. So poor country chaplains earned extra income with the treasure hunt. Among the vagabonds, on the other hand, there were many unemployed mercenaries who had gained practical experience of where people usually hide their belongings during war. Women seldom appeared as treasure magicians, but occasionally children who, in their innocence, were considered particularly clairvoyant. The workers who helped with the actual digs could become a problem. Either they refused to work out of fear of the ghosts, or they argued with the client about payment if the treasure was not found. The clients were often real "stock corporations" with dozens of investors who bore the running costs, but who were supposed to participate proportionally in the fund. If during the preparations the aspect of the redemption of poor souls was emphasized, which was accompanied by regular prayers and religious exercises, the treasure hunt groups could also take on the character of a domestic church . In 1770 in Weilheim, Württemberg, a short-lived Christian sect around the maid Anna Maria Freyin emerged from such a group. This staged worship-like ghost apparitions for their followers, in which redeemed ghosts communicated divine revelations. The authorities could only master these activities with great difficulty.
The scandal surrounding the Jena Christmas Eve tragedy of 1715, in which two treasure hunters and two guardians of the dead were killed, marks the first impulses of the Early Enlightenment , which turned against the old belief in demons and witches.
Treasure spells and treasure tales
Treasures already play an important role in Norse literature and in medieval heroic epics, such as the dragon hoard in Beowulf or the Nibelungen hoard in the Völsunga saga and in the Nibelungenlied . Some sagas describe the pillaging of barrows. These treasures are cursed, magical-mythical objects and the “search” for them consists only in overcoming the already known treasure keeper. These are also magical-mythical beings, such as dwarfs or dragons , sometimes the deceased owner, a draugr . The first literary figure who, unlike the previous owners, no longer regards the hoard as a purely magical object, but rather "modern" as a mere collection of valuables with which one can buy power instead of just symbolically representing it, is Kriemhild .
The heyday of the treasure tales is the early modern period. In these legends, the treasure sometimes takes on the properties of a living being: it comes to the surface of the earth to "bask" and can then be found by chance, but hides from treasure hunters like game from a hunter, usually by going deep sinks into the ground. Sometimes it disappears through holes in the walls or takes on a different shape , such as a pile of (glowing) coal, if not even dirt. A single spoken word is enough to scare him off. However, he can be outwitted by knowledgeable experts. He is located with mantic aids such as a dowsing rod or a treasure mirror . Certain plants (fern seeds) carried along make the treasure hunters invisible or lull the treasure. With money and gold pieces, the treasure can even be calmed down and attracted , just as hunters lure birds with decoys . The hardest part is getting the treasure in place.
It is therefore sometimes easier to banish the treasure keeper instead, the mountain spirit who guards the treasure. For the theologians of the time, these spirits were demons, fallen angels and devils who are only kept in check by the omnipotence of God but continue to try to deceive and tempt people. For the natural philosophers and alchemists they were elemental spirits (especially gnomes and sylphs ). In contrast, diverse ideas were circulating among the people. Here, too, the treasure keepers succeed in driving away the treasure hunters in the shape of huge poisonous toads, white or fiery snakes or as a terrible black dog . Often, however, it also manifests itself in a violent storm wind, sometimes even inside permanent buildings. However, experts in treasure spells can bring the treasure guard under their control. In the best case scenario, they don't even need to go to the hiding place themselves, but have a helpful house spirit , like the Drak , who simply brings their riches for them. Related is the idea of the little money man , which was often (allegedly) carved out of a mandrake , and of the Heckertaler , which you simply put with your own money so that he magically increases ("hatches") it. Although such practices were placed close to the devil's pact (the only permitted treatment of demons was exorcism), many treasure wizards apparently found the risks manageable. In fact, their most powerful incantations and magical symbols consist of set pieces from the Christian cult and, with their massive appeal to God, the Trinity and the saints, are indistinguishable from prayer . For reasons that are not clear, the treasure hunters viewed St. Christopher as their patron saint (→ Christoffelgebet ).
However, by far the most important treasure keepers are spirits of the dead and ghosts. Although theologians of all churches rejected the belief in unredeemed souls who had to continue haunted (the Catholic Church only accepted the existence of poor souls in purgatory , the Protestant churches not even these), the belief in ghosts persisted. It was assumed that the souls of the deceased returned because they still had "something to do" in the world of the living. In the case of mothers who died young, this could e.g. B. be the protection of their children, but with unrepentant sinners, the atonement for their crimes. So the ghosts over treasure were the souls of the greedy skimmers who had amassed them instead of using them for charity. Now they tried to reveal the hiding place in the hope that a living person would raise the treasure and thus redeem the sinner. In doing so, they often appeared in a radiant form, as a dead light or money fire , much like the angels and saints previously in the translation reports who wanted to point out the location of relics. The connection between belief in ghosts and belief in treasure was so close that in the end every nighttime ghost was interpreted as a sign of a buried treasure. The church doctrine that the apparitions are demons who only simulated the shape of a dead person was turned into its opposite in popular belief: the poor soul showed the approximate location of the treasure, which could be determined more precisely with the dowsing rod. Then a demon appeared who wanted to prevent the redemption of the sinner. One could drive this away with the Christoffel prayer. In their self-image, the treasure hunters by no means surrendered to the dark forces, but, on the contrary, courageously carried out a meritorious Christian duty.
The fascination of the treasure hunt, which is reflected in the extensive legendary material, cannot be explained by increased finds in the early modern period. Treasure finds have been very rare at all times. The cultural historian Johannes Dillinger explains it with the limited-good model of the ethnologist Robert Redfield : The then largely agrarian class society behaved as if all goods were only available in a limited amount that could never be increased. The economy was viewed as a zero-sum game : one person's profit is the other's loss. A treasure find , like winning the lottery , did not harm others and was therefore not perceived as a threat to social equilibrium.
Treasure hunt trials
Unlike witchcraft , treasure hunting was not a completely imaginary phenomenon. While a woman has never really ridden a broomstick to the witch's sabbath, there have been people who have used supposedly magical practices to obtain treasures. Whilst entire branches of theology and jurisprudence were concerned with alleged witches, the scholars of the early modern period were only little interested in treasure hunters. When a case of unlicensed treasure hunting came up, the authorities had three possible courses of action:
- Persecution as a simple fraud. Indeed, some treasure hunters practiced early forms of advance fraud . So they let gullible clients hand over large sums of money, ostensibly to “lure” a large hidden treasure. Or they staged ghostly apparitions in which they pretended that money had to be collected for the redemption of the poor soul in order to pay for charitable works. Then the crooks ran away with the money. Others persuaded their victims to perform lengthy rituals in remote places in order to be able to rob their homes in the meantime.
- Persecution as a superstition , i.e. as a punishable but less serious violation of the ban on magic. This appears to have been the most common practice. The penalties included expulsion from the country, display in the pillory, or fines. Often the treasure hunters got away with a mere reprimand or a symbolic punishment.
- In the worst case persecution as witchcraft, or in the case of the abuse of consecrated objects, as sacrilege . Such cases were rare, although the treasure hunt often led to veritable evocations of demons, but could then lead to the death penalty at the stake or on the gallows.
Even if some contemporary demonologists demanded a rigorous equal treatment of all sorcery offenses, the judges only followed them in treasure hunt trials in exceptional cases. The decisive factor seems to have been there that treasure magic in public opinion, unlike witchcraft, not as black magic was perceived. Jean Bodin and other witch theorists claimed that although the devil knew all the treasures with which he could seduce people into treasure hunts and other sins, God prevented him from distributing them among his followers. As evidence, they cited numerous examples of failed treasure hunts. Witchcraft was predominantly accused of poor women on the fringes of society. These were assumed to have destroyed the property and health of their neighbors out of pure envy and malice. Also none of the constituent crimes of alleged witches (flight of witches, witches' sabbath, devil's compensation, magic spells) applied to treasure hunters. Treasure hunters, on the other hand, were almost always men and their clients and financiers were often members of the upper middle class, if not princes. Wealthy people were only accused of witchcraft if they were viewed by those around them as dishonest competitors.
Modern
After the witch hunts ended and the Enlightenment began , sorcery remained forbidden, but was only considered fraud. The circulation of magic books increased, however, because the books (as ineffective) were no longer destroyed by the authorities.
In Faust II (First Act, Imperial Palatinate), Goethe parodied the old institution of treasure hunting licenses: Mephisto persuaded the emperor to claim all hidden treasures for himself and to use these fictitious values as cover for the new paper money .
The belief in ghosts in poor souls who need the help of the living to be redeemed changed into its opposite in the spiritism of the 19th century. Now it is the living who ask the spirit beings for help, advice and consolation. As a result, treasure hunt lost its religious justification.
The dowsing rod changed from a magic wand to a pseudo-technical instrument. However, their use still requires a special personal talent (“radiation sensitivity”). Commercial companies provide dowsers' services for the discovery of water, ore veins and petroleum. In 1911 the association for clarifying the dowsing rod question was founded in Germany . Contrary to what the name suggests, it was a lobby association of dowsers. Before the First World War, the association offered to look for water for the government in the deserts of German South West Africa , and during the war to look for “hidden hard money reserves” at home. During the Second World War, dowsers also used their supposed arts to serve the Reich. The Research Association of German Ahnenerbe trained employees to search for water in the Balkans, but also to search for explosives. Which the esoteric inclined towards Heinrich Himmler sent dowser searching for iron deposits, but especially after the origin of the Rheingold .
Change of treasure hunt in the New World
North and Central European settlers took their belief in treasure with them to America. Worked so Joseph Smith , the founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints on occasion, like his parents before him, even as a child as a treasure hunter. Here he used two "peepstones" ("peep stones") in his hat. As soon as he looked inside, he claimed to be able to see hidden treasures. The finding and deciphering of the Book of Mormon described by Smith also has clear echoes of old treasure hunt stories: The book is written on solid gold tablets, so it represents a great material value. Its location is revealed to him by a spiritual being called Moroni, as in the Relic and treasure tales, either an angel or a dead spirit. In this context, however, he no longer uses the peepstones as a mantic aid to localize the book, but to translate the text. The real treasure is no longer the gold (which Moroni takes back piece by piece), but the new teaching. Smith's contemporaries were largely skeptical of this portrayal, and early missionaries of the new Church therefore tried to make Smith appear more like an archaeologist and linguist rather than a treasure mage.
In the former Spanish colonial areas in particular, the European settlers suspected rich treasures, not only in the abandoned forts and mission stations, but also in forgotten gold and silver mines. This brought these treasure hunters closer to the classic Western men and prospectors, the gold prospectors who, alone or in small groups, were often the first whites to penetrate new territories. The experts who were able to provide information about the location of the lost treasures were no longer magicians, but local Mexicans and Indians. They still knew old tribal stories about waymarks and scratch drawings that led to the treasure and marked its location, or they had old site plans. A well-known example of this are the legends of James Bowie's "lost mine" Los Almagres . In the oldest versions of history, there was probably talk of Spanish silver bars instead of a mine. The research into the whereabouts of the treasure was no longer carried out with magical aids, but with research and interpretation of quasi-archaeological finds and pseudo-historical sources.
In 19th century Texas, the treasure map trade flourished and the publication of Robert Louis Stevenson's adventure novel Treasure Island in 1881 canonized the notion that an X on the map marks the hiding place. To this day, all search companies for the legendary pirate treasure of William Kidd have been based on the (forged) cards that were purchased after 1929 by the antique collector Hubert Palmer. The question of why someone would sell such a document that could make him rich for relatively little money was pushed aside, as was the case with the European whale books before .
Researchers such as the gold prospector and cartographer Karl Mauch , who discovered the ruins of Greater Zimbabwe with its abandoned gold mines in 1871 , the archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann , who dug up the “ treasure of Priam ” in 1873 “with the Iliad under his arm” , Hiram Bingham , who found the city of Machu Picchu lost in the jungle in 1911 , or Percy Fawcett , who was lost in search of Eldorado in 1924 , became role models for fictional treasure hunters like Allan Quatermain , Indiana Jones and Lara Croft . In these modern treasure tales, spook and magic only play a subordinate role. The dominant element is adventure . The modern treasure hunters no longer fail because of demons, but because of the wilderness and the inadequate recovery equipment. If a supposedly safely located treasure like the one on Oak Island cannot be lifted despite enormous effort, it is no longer because it sinks deeper and deeper into the ground, but because of the traps and protective mechanisms that were installed there by resourceful engineers. Even the advance scammers followed this trend away from magic. Now it is no longer about the redemption of a poor soul and his treasure, but about the liberation of a rich man from prison (preferably in Spain), or about his inheritance, which is buried somewhere.
While the origin and whereabouts of the treasure played almost no role in the early modern treasure sagas (except that it had been collected in sin and could now be used for charitable purposes), modern treasure stories sometimes deal with nothing else. It is meticulously reconstructed where a conquistador or pirate is said to have collected this and that treasure that changed hands here and there, was buried or stolen by Indians or sank in the sea. The only potential treasure hunter is the listener of the story, who could go out and look for the treasure himself.
Dillinger attributes the change in the perception of the treasure hunt since the early modern period to the simultaneous change in the prevailing economic conditions. In modern society, competition and competition are no longer considered harmful, but on the contrary, a duty. While the treasure hunt used to be based on the hope of attaining prosperity without offending the neighbors, today it promises the way out of the constraints of a capitalist performance society.
Probe goers
With a metal detector, probe users search specifically for metallic objects in the ground , in the military sector for mines and ammunition, in the civil sector for lost valuables such as antiques . You can work on your own account as well as on behalf of authorities or private individuals. In addition to the treasure hunt (also under water), her activities include the recovery of fallen soldiers (using the identification tag) and militaria , the search for nuggets in soap deposits or for meteorites or flotsam .
The legal situation in all German federal states is regulated by monument protection laws. An excavation or research permit is required for the targeted search for archaeological monuments and, above all, for digging on them , otherwise severe penalties are imminent. All archaeological and historical finds must be reported. Failure to do so will result in charges of embezzlement and possibly damage to property that is harmful to the community . In all German federal states, except Bavaria, the treasure shelf applies : all finds of particular scientific value belong entirely to the respective federal state. So z. B. according to the Brandenburg Monument Protection Act of July 22, 1991: "Movable ground monuments that are ownerless or that have been hidden for so long that their owner can no longer be determined, have become the property of the land since they were discovered if they are permitted during excavations or are discovered in excavation protection areas or if they are of value for scientific research. ”In some federal states, however, the finder receives a reward.
Official archaeologists particularly criticize the often inadequate documentation of the finds by so-called robbery graves , who are primarily interested in the sale of antiques, or in their private collection, and not in historical research. The historical understanding of the finds is made even more difficult by the destruction of the find situation . Surveyors with a permit, on the other hand, can do valuable voluntary work in the preservation of monuments by reporting unknown soil monuments and providing new information on known soil monuments. On the other hand, there are probes who mainly market their finds unreported via the internet and thus contribute to the stealing of antiquities . The best known case of robbery with the help of metal detectors is that of the Nebra Sky Disc .
Treasure hunt as a leisure activity
Even if larger archaeological finds are occasionally made by explorers, such as the Staffordshire Treasure in 2009 , most of them do not pursue the “treasure hunt” for profit, but as an equally exciting and relaxing nature sport .
Despite all the rationalization of the modern treasure hunt, esotericism has not completely disappeared from it. In particular, the myth-shrouded “Rheingold” and the “Nibelungenhort” are not only searched for with metal detectors, but also with what is known as “ remote viewing ”, usually commuting via maps. Pendulums and dowsing rods are offered in the relevant forums as ancient free technology ("ancient, free technology"). Even the “mountain mirror” has returned in the form of digital cameras that can be converted to photograph the “ aura ” of the hidden treasure.
In geocaching , an electronic form of scavenger hunt , interest in profit has completely disappeared. The hidden objects are largely worthless even in material terms. This hobby is cultivated mostly by tech-savvy men in secure circumstances who often go on excursions to scenic sights with their family and friends. From the "treasure hunt" only the aspect of the search remains, the little escape from everyday life.
Commercial treasure hunt
Improved location processes and new recovery techniques have made it possible to recover previously undiscovered treasures, especially at sea. Professional treasure hunters work systematically to locate and recover such treasures.
For the science of archeology, treasure hunters pose an enormous problem, as they are usually interested in material value and destroy the securing of evidence at the place of discovery. Treasure hunters thus destroy historical knowledge to a high degree.
Legal issues
Several states are usually involved (country of the salvage company, country of the sunken ship and possibly the state to which the salvage area belongs), so that conflicting legal systems can arise. Maritime law and international private law apply to finds on the high seas . In the law of the sea there is a “doctrine of state immunity”, according to which the wrecks of ships in service on non-commercial voyages remain the property of the countries that commissioned them. Private international law becomes applicable when there is treasure outside the 12-mile zone from a coast. A UNESCO agreement also stipulates that shipwrecks belong to the ship's country of origin, regardless of where they were found.
Spectacular isolated cases
In May 2007, professional treasure hunters of the American company Odyssey Marine Exploration found a treasure weighing 17 tons in the Atlantic, which was on the Spanish frigate Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes sunk on October 5, 1804 by the British Navy . The wreck lay at a depth of 518 meters, contained a treasure with a value of US $ 500 million and belonged to Spain under international law, a US appeals court ruled as the last instance in February 2012. Odyssey Marine Exploration had spent $ 2.6 million on recovery; the Spanish coast guard had confiscated their ship Ocean Alert on July 12, 2007 .
Treasure hunters like Greg Brooks evaluate historical documents and start the professional treasure hunt. In August 2008 his company Sub Sea Research located the Port Nicholson sunk on June 16, 1942 by two torpedoes shot down by the German submarine U 87 . It is said to have loaded 71 tons of platinum, gold and diamonds valued at US $ 3 billion as war goods payment from the Soviet Union to the USA and is located 225 meters deep near Cape Cod . In 2009, Sub Sea Research (SSR) received legal recognition as a ship owner and owner. Because of the complicated technical conditions, the rescue has not yet taken place. But here too a legal dispute is hindering the recovery. Britain has claimed ownership of Port Nicholson since it sank and has never given up ownership. If the estimates prove to be correct, it will be the most precious treasure of all time.
The High Court of Singapore had the German submarine on 24 October 1974, Case U 859 to decide that in the September 23, 1944 Malacca Strait had been sunk by a British submarine. He came to the conclusion that the Federal Republic of Germany owned the submarine and its valuable cargo (several tons of mercury).
Treasure hunt in literature
The search for treasure found its way into literature again and again , especially adventure literature . The motif of the treasure hunt can often be found in oriental adventure fairy tales, for example in the stories about Aladin , Ali Baba and Sindbad . Johann Wolfgang von Goethe took up the subject in his ballad The Treasure Grave (1797). In numerous horror novels such as The Monk by Matthew Gregory Lewis (1796) and Melmoth the Wanderer (1820) by Charles Robert Maturin , underground treasure vaults are traversed. In his novella Die Höhle von Steenfoll , Wilhelm Hauff reports on the treasure hunt in a cave on the Atlantic coast based on a Scottish story. In Achim von Arnim's novel Die Kronenwächter (1817) the old German imperial crown is the sought-after treasure. In Eduard Mörike's novella The Treasure (1835), the curse of evil lies on a gold chain. In The Count of Monte Christo (1844–1846) by Alexandre Dumas , the hero uses a huge treasure to carry out his plans for revenge. In John Retcliffes Puebla (1865-67) is about an Indian treasure.
In The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) by Mark Twain , the young hero discovers a treasure chest in a cave. The novel Treasure Island (1881/1882) by Robert Louis Stevenson became the model for numerous similar works. Karl May tells in Der Schatz im Silbersee (1890/1891) about the search for an Indian treasure , in The Legacy of the Inka about an Inca treasure. H. Rider Haggard reports in Montezuma's Daughter (1893) about the lost treasure of Montezuma ; in Folk of the Fog (1894) a young Englishman searches for treasure from a mysterious African people. The Treasure of Morgenbrotstal of Paul Ernst joins the action with a description of the circumstances at the end of the Thirty Years War. The search for the treasures of the Knights Templar already appears in Walter Scott's novel Ivanhoe (1820), as well as in L. Ezekiel's Templer and Johanniter (1931) and E. Sommers Die Templer (1950).
literature
- Johannes Dillinger : On a treasure hunt. Of grave robbers, necromancers and other hunters of hidden riches. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 2011, ISBN 978-3-451-30299-2 .
- Heide Klinkhammer: treasure hunters, wisdom seekers and demon summoners. The motivic and thematic reception of the treasure hunt in art from the 15th to the 18th century. (Studies on profane iconography; Vol. 3) Zugl .: Aachen, Techn. Hochs., Diss. ISBN 3-7861-1699-7
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Charles Relly Beard: The Romance of Treasure Trove. London 1933, pp. 101, 109.
- ↑ Martin Ott: The discovery of antiquity. Dealing with the Roman past of southern Germany in the 16th century. Laßleben, Kallmünz 2002, ISBN 3-7847-3017-5 , pp. 39-49, 67-70.
- ↑ Gerhard Jaritz: The bad prayer to the treasures of the world. In: Elisabeth Vavra (Ed.): From dealing with treasures. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 2007, ISBN 978-3-7001-3721-4 , pp. 81–98.
- ^ K. Görich: Otto III. opens the Karlsgrab in Aachen. In: G. Althof, E. Schubert (Ed.): Representation of the rulers in Ottonian Saxony. Sigmaringen 1998, pp. 381-430.
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↑ a b c d e f g Johannes Dillinger : On a treasure hunt. Of grave robbers, necromancers and other hunters of hidden riches. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 2011, ISBN 978-3-451-30299-2 .
On the division of a treasure: legal questions , pp. 16–23; The treasure hunt with magical means , pp. 23–25; The treasure as Mammon , pp. 25–27; The beginnings of monument protection and the treasure hunt , pp. 28–32; Beowulf and the Dragon , pp. 37-38; Der Schatz der Nibelungen , pp. 38–44; Relics and Their Meaning , pp. 44–46; In Search of Charlemagne , pp. 46–49; From the legend of relics to the treasure hunt , pp. 49–52; The Control of Treasure Hunters , pp. 55–58; Money Sunbathes: The Treasure as a Magical Item , pp. 59–62; The most important rule for the treasure hunt , pp. 67–68; Fairies and brownies as helpers in the treasure hunt , pp. 68–77; Demons as Adversaries of Treasure Seekers , pp. 78–85; St. Christopher, the patron saint of treasure hunters , pp. 85–88; The Spirits of the Dead as Treasure Guards , pp. 92–100; Licenses for the Treasure Hunters , pp. 110-113; Princes as treasure hunters , pp. 113–114; Magical Treasure Hunt and its Punishment , pp. 114–116; Treasure Magic and Witchcraft , pp. 121–126; Treasure Magic and Fraud , pp. 126–128; Who do you need for a treasure hunt? Die Schatzsuchergruppe , pp. 129–141; Through the Magic to Market Economy , pp. 141–151; Dowsing Company , pp. 157–159; James Bowie and the Silver Treasure , pp . 162-164; Der neue Schatzsucher , pp. 164-167; Treasure stories without treasure hunters , pp. 167–169; The Alleged Treasure Maps of Captain Kidd , pp. 179–183; Rheingold , pp. 192-194; Schatzgräber-AG: Maritime archeology between science and commerce , pp. 198–205; Metal detector and GPS: Treasure hunt as a leisure activity, pp. 205–210 - ↑ JG Schmidt : The groomed rock philosophy. Volume 1, Leipzig 1988 (originally Chemnitz 1718-1722), pp. 104-106.
- ↑ Manfred Tschaikner: Treasure hunt in Vorarlberg and Liechtenstein. With views of Tyrol, Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and Switzerland. History Association Region Bludenz, Bludenz 2006, ISBN 3-901833-19-6 , pp. 53, 60, 64–65.
- ↑ Sabine Doering-Manteuffel: The occult. A success story in the shadow of the Enlightenment. From Gutenberg to the World Wide Web. Siedler, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-88680-888-5 , pp. 105-138.
- ^ D. Michael Quinn: Early Mormonism and the Magic World View. 2nd Edition. Signature Books, Salt Lake City 1998, ISBN 1-56085-089-2 , pp. 43-44, 136.
- ↑ DIGS-Online: German interest group of probe users
- ↑ The field of gold: How jobless treasure hunter unearthed greatest ever haul of Saxon artefacts with £ 2.50 metal detector Daily Mail of September 27, 2009.
- ↑ Daniel Telaar: Geocaching - A contextual study of German geocaching community. Diploma thesis, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität zu Münster, 2007. ( PDF file )
- ↑ world leader in deep sea salvage
- ↑ News Discovery from the Black Swan Shipwreck Ordeal Comes to End February 24, 2012.
- ^ Wreck Site on Port Nicholson
- ↑ United States District Court, District Of Maine, judgment of April 26, 2013, p. 6 (PDF; 150 kB)
- ↑ Georg Ress: The salvage of war-sunk ships in the light of the legal situation in Germany , comments on a judgment of the High Court of Singapore of October 24, 1974, p. 372 f. (PDF; 1.1 MB)