Jewelry of the Empress
Habsburg treasure turns up after 100 years
While fleeing from the National Socialists, the heirs of Austria's last emperor not only brought themselves to safety in Canada, but also significant pieces of their family jewelry - from the legendary "Florentine" diamond to other personal belongings of Empress Maria-Theresia, Queen Marie-Antoinette and Emperor Charles I.
For decades, the family jewels of the former Austrian imperial family were considered lost. Those precious jewels that Emperor Karl I and his wife Zita were able to rescue from the infamous display case XIII in the old imperial treasury at the end of the monarchy and finally transfer to exile in Switzerland.
But times did not get any calmer for the Habsburg family, as the imperial widow and her children were later persecuted by the National Socialists due to their active engagement against the Hitler dictatorship. Shortly before their home in exile in Belgium was bombed by the German Luftwaffe in May 1940, the family managed to flee to Canada via France and Portugal. In their luggage: significant pieces of the culturally and historically important family jewelry, which survived the turmoil of war and have been kept safe in Canada ever since, as the "New York Times" was the first to report.
Turning the jewelry into money was out of the question for Zita, as it was an essential part of her family history. Which is why the widow - against the backdrop of her family's experience of persecution and flight - instructed her heirs for security reasons not to inform the public of the existence of the items until at least 100 years after the death of Emperor Karl I in 1922. And so Karl Habsburg, grandson of the last emperor and currently head of the Habsburg-Lorraine family, was only informed of the existence of the valuable treasure last year by his cousins, who had been entrusted with Zita's top-secret mission for generations.
"Florentine" diamond and Golden Fleece
The priceless private treasures that have since been kept safe in Quebec include the "Florentine" - a historic, walnut-sized diamond weighing 137.2 carats, which had been missing in exile in Switzerland since the 1920s and was considered the fourth largest diamond in the world at the time of its disappearance. Another item is a diamond-studded Order of the Golden Fleece, the House Order of the Habsburg family.
Private jewelry is exhibited to the world in Canada
The family has decided what to do with the valuable finds. As a thank you for the country taking in the former monarch's family and giving them security, the collection is to remain in Canada for the long term and be made accessible to the public there as soon as possible.
"For us descendants of Emperor Karl I and Empress Zita, it is a matter close to our hearts to make our historically significant private jewelry accessible to the public," says a delighted Karl Habsburg. "In doing so, we are fulfilling our cultural and historical responsibility. Our family and our heritage were rescued in Canada in 1940 while fleeing and protected from extremely adverse circumstances; the jewelry has found a new home there to this day. We would like to express our gratitude and deepest appreciation to the country and its people by exhibiting the preserved family jewelry in Canada."
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