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Habsburg Jewels Emerge After Century-Long Secret
5 Dec
Summary
- Austrian government formed a commission to investigate Hapsburg jewels.
- The Florentine Diamond and other gems were hidden by the Hapsburg family.
- Family claims jewels are private property, not state crown possessions.
An expert commission has been established by the Austrian government to scrutinize the recent emergence of valuable Hapsburg family jewels, including the renowned Florentine Diamond. These treasures, believed lost for over a century, have reportedly been in the possession of the Hapsburg descendants and were secretly held in Canada since 1940.
The reappearance has prompted Austria to explore potential claims, with the commission tasked with reconstructing the provenance and history of these significant objects. The Hapsburg family maintains that the jewels constitute private property, distinct from state crown heirlooms, and were concealed following Empress Zita's wishes for their safety.
Historians support the family's claim, noting that the jewels were inventoried separately from state treasures and were outside Austria when legislation expropriated family property in 1919. The family intends to display the Florentine Diamond in a Canadian museum in the coming years, with no plans for sale.
