德國哥德式教堂修復者發現雕像腿部藏有近400年的“巨額財富”

這些寶藏是四袋 1600 年代的硬幣，很可能是在三十年戰爭期間被隱藏的，當時瑞典士兵經常掠奪該地區。

Restorers at a famous Gothic church in Germany have discovered a "huge fortune" that was hidden in the leg of a statue nearly 400 years ago.

德國一座著名哥德式教堂的修復人員發現了近400年前隱藏在雕像腿中的「巨額財富」。

The treasure — four bags of coins from the 1600s — was likely concealed during the Thirty Years' War, when Swedish soldiers frequently plundered the region.

這些寶藏是四袋 1600 年代的硬幣，很可能是在三十年戰爭期間被藏起來的，當時瑞典士兵經常掠奪該地區。

The discovery is an "incredible story," Ulf Dräger, curator and head of department at the State Coin Cabinet of Saxony-Anhalt in Germany, told Live Science in an email. The restorers, who made the find in May 2022 but didn't announce it until November 2024, uncovered the coins at St. Andrew's Church, a Gothic church in Eisleben, a town in the east-central state of Saxony-Anhalt. This church is where Martin Luther, the Protestant Reformer who wrote the "Ninety-five Theses" against corruption in the Roman Catholic Church, delivered his last four sermons in 1546.

德國薩克森-安哈特州國家錢幣內閣館長兼部門負責人烏爾夫·德爾格（Ulf Dräger）在一封電子郵件中告訴《生活科學》，這一發現是一個「令人難以置信的故事」。修復者於2022 年5 月發現了這一發現，但直到2024 年11 月才宣布，他們在聖安德魯教堂發現了這些硬幣，這是位於薩克森-安哈爾特州中東部小鎮艾斯萊本的一座哥德式教堂。這座教堂是撰寫反對羅馬天主教會腐敗的「九十五條論綱」的新教改革家馬丁路德於 1546 年發表最後四次佈道的地方。

Around 100 years later, in about 1640, someone used the church as a safe haven to hide their stash. They put the four "bulging purses" holding 816 coins into a cavity in a leg of a sandstone statue, which is part of an epitaph for a countess and count, Dräger said.

大約 100 年後，也就是 1640 年左右，有人利用這座教堂作為藏匿財物的避風港。德爾格說，他們將裝有 816 枚硬幣的四個「鼓鼓囊囊的錢包」放入砂岩雕像腿的空腔中，該雕像是一位伯爵夫人墓誌銘的一部分。

"It is nothing short of a miracle that the treasure did not come to light sooner," he added. It will take time for coin experts to assess the hoard's value, but "at the moment, I can only say that it is a huge fortune. Much more than a craftsman could earn in a year," he noted.

「寶藏沒有更早被發現，這簡直就是一個奇蹟，」他補充道。錢幣專家需要時間來評估這批寶藏的價值，但「目前，我只能說這是一筆巨額財富。遠遠超過了工匠一年的收入，」他指出。

The most valuable gold coins were wrapped in paper and labeled in a way that indicates the money belonged to the church treasury. "However, it is not the bell pouch for the Sunday collection," Dräger said. "Instead, it is the collected income from special services provided by the pastors," such as weddings, baptisms and funerals. Pastors also collected money from "chair fees," in which congregants would pay to sit in prominent seats in the church, he added.

最有價值的金幣用紙包裹，並貼上標籤，表明這些錢屬於教堂金庫。 「然而，這不是周日系列的鐘形袋，」德爾格說。 “相反，它是從牧師提供的特殊服務中收取的收入”，例如婚禮、洗禮和葬禮。他補充說，牧師們還從「椅子費」中收取費用，即會眾付費坐在教堂的顯眼座位上。

The stash includes a gold coin known as a "golden angel"; gold ducats and double ducats; silver coins known as thalers, half-thalers and quarter-thalers; and hundreds of pennies.

收藏品中包括一枚被稱為「金色天使」的金幣；金達克特和雙達克特；稱為泰勒、半泰勒和四分之一泰勒的銀幣；和數百便士。

The hoard was hidden during the Thirty Years' War (1618 to 1648), a series of wars that started with the Holy Roman emperor imposing religious control over his realm and later involving political, territorial and commercial conflicts in neighboring areas of Europe. During this conflict, Swedish soldiers plundered Saxony-Anhalt, including Eisleben, sometimes weekly. Locals were forced to quarter and feed Swedish troops and pay them vast sums of money. "Eisleben lost around half of its population between 1628 and 1650," Dräger said. "[It was] a picture of constant war horror."

該寶藏在三十年戰爭（1618 年至 1648 年）期間被隱藏，這是一系列戰爭，始於神聖羅馬皇帝對其領土實施宗教控制，後來涉及歐洲鄰近地區的政治、領土和商業衝突。在這場衝突中，瑞典士兵有時每週都會掠奪薩克森-安哈特州，包括艾斯萊本。當地人被迫為瑞典軍隊提供營舍和伙食，並向他們支付巨額金錢。 「1628 年至 1650 年間，艾斯萊本失去了大約一半的人口，」德爾格說。 “[這是]一幅持續的戰爭恐怖畫面。”

To put the treasure into context, a successful 17th-century miner in the region earned about 1 thaler, or 24 pennies, every week, Dräger said. One pound (0.45 kilograms) of butter cost about 3 pennies, and two herrings cost two pennies. In addition to the gold and silver coins, the treasure contains about 800 pennies.

德爾格表示，為了了解這些寶藏的具體情況，該地區一名 17 世紀的成功礦工每週賺取約 1 泰勒（24 便士）。一磅（0.45 公斤）黃油大約需要 3 便士，兩條鯡魚則需要 2 便士。寶藏中除金銀幣外，還含有約800文錢。

The loss of this hoard was likely a tragedy at the time, Dräger said. "This makes the find a highly significant historical and real testimony, not only for Eisleben, but also for the history of the state of Saxony-Anhalt in the heart of Europe," he said.

德爾格說，這些寶藏的失落在當時可能是一場悲劇。他說：“這使得這一發現成為非常重要的歷史和真實見證，不僅對於艾斯萊本，而且對於歐洲中心的薩克森-安哈爾特州的歷史也是如此。”

Historians know that from 1561, Eisleben had an "Aerarium Pastorale" — a common parish fund that was used as a pension and health fund, as social insurance for pastors, and to promote the training of theologians. "Perhaps we now have this fund before us," Dräger said. "Historical research will show this."

歷史學家知道，從 1561 年起，艾斯萊本就有了一個「Aerarium Pastorale」——一種公共教區基金，用作養老金和健康基金、牧師的社會保險以及促進神學家的培訓。 「也許我們現在已經有了這筆基金，」德爾格說。 “歷史研究將證明這一點。”

Researchers now plan to study each coin individually and document their finds online and at the Moritzburg Art Museum in Halle. They will also present their findings at St. Andrew's Church.

研究人員現在計劃單獨研究每枚硬幣，並在網路上和哈雷莫里茨堡藝術博物館記錄他們的發現。他們還將在聖安德魯教堂展示他們的發現。

"It is a stroke of luck that the Lutherstadt Eisleben Protestant Parish Association has decided to lend the coins to the museum to enable research to be carried out," Dräger said.

「路德施塔特‧艾斯萊本新教教區協會決定將這些硬幣借給博物館以便進行研究，這真是一件幸運的事，」德爾格說。