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Ancient Nazi-looted religious cross returned

06 May 2008 15:43:20 GMT
Source: Reuters

LONDON, May 6 (Reuters) - A priceless medieval religious cross stolen by the Nazis in Poland during World War Two was returned on Tuesday to the heirs of the rightful owners after it was found in a rubbish skip.

The enamelled cross, 47.5 centimetres (18.7 inches) high and 29 centimetres (11.42 inches) wide, originally from Limoges in France, was discovered in a container full of junk from a house clearance in the Austrian ski resort of Zell am See.

Limoges is famed for its medieval enamels as well as for its 19th century porcelain.

Acquired in 1865, the cross featured among the thousands of works of art in the collection built up by Countess Isabella Dzialynska who displayed it in her castle at Goluchow for many decades.

The collection also included printings as well as Egyptian, Etruscan, Phoenician, Greek and Roman antiquities and medieval and Rennaissance enamels, jewellery and silver.

"I am delighted by the recovery of a precious piece from this once magnificent collection, which we hope to re-constitute in its own building in Poland one day", Count Adam Zamoyski, one of the heirs, who lives in London, said in a statement.

The statement was issued by the London-based Commission for Looted Art which specialises in returning art works stolen by the Nazis to their rightful owners.

With the war imminent, some of the gems in the Dzialynska collection were buried on the castle grounds where they were found by the Nazis in 1941.

Three years later with the tide of war turning, the looted items were moved on the orders of Adolf Hitler to Castle Fischhorn in Zell am See from where they were again looted in the chaos around the end of the conflict.

Efforts by heirs of the owners to find them after the war met with no success.

After verification and lengthy negotiations with the finder involving the Commission for Looted Art in Europe, the cross was returned on Tuesday to Count Zamoyski at a ceremony at the Mining Museum in Leogang near Salzburg.

"We very much hope that the people of Zell am See and the surrounding area will be moved to consider whether they have not come across pieces of antique jewellery, glass, enamel, and similar items that might be from this collection," he said.

"Any action that led to the recovery of further pieces would not go unrewarded," he added.

(Editing by Paul Casciato)

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