60 years later
THE SEARCH FOR NAZI TREASURES V. Proposal for an Exploration Project and TV Documentary Series
c 2005 Jaro Sveceny V Podbabe 29a 160 00 Prague 6 Czech Republic jarosveceny@yahoo.com
V. LIST OF CONTENTS
METTERNICH’S DESCENDENT, January 15, 2007, Plasy
40 CHANCELLOR'S DESCENDENT (Plasy, CR, 2006-7)
Among a few who dared to oppose Hitler's systematic plunder of European art treasures during WWII, the name of Count Franz Wolff Metternich (1893-1978), stands out prominently. The grandson of the famous Austrian Chancellor Klemens Wenzel von Metternich (1773-1859) who restructured Europe after Napoleon's defeat was chosen to head Hitler's "Art and Monuments Protection Office" when it was established in May 1940. At the time of his appointment Metternich enjoyed international reputation as a distinguished art historian and a Francophile. His organization also known as "Kunstschutz," became responsible for compiling a list of the most significant objects of art located in the war zone and protecting it in the name of the army and in conformity with international agreements. As a civilian, Metternich was responsible for his work to the Supreme Command of the German Army. The protection of monuments and works of art was included in Wehrmacht directives, drafted in accordance with the 1907 "Hague Convention." (Art. 56: "The property of municipalities, that of institutions dedicated to religion, charity and education, the arts and sciences, even when State property, shall be treated as private property. All seizure of, destruction or wilful damage done to institutions of this character, historic monuments, works of art and science, is forbidden, and should be made the subject of legal proceedings.") Metternich felt that it was his duty to enforce this international law to the letter. For almost two years he had succeeded in preventing removal of art objects from the countries occupied by Germany. However, his observation of international treaties did not go well with General Goring's megalomaniac art-collecting taste. On 5 February 1941 Goering gave orders that the art objects which the Fuehrer wishes to acquire and those objects of art which are to become the property of the Reich Marshal are to be brought to Germany immediately. Wolff Metternich's strong objections caused his immediate dismissal and in 1942 he returned to his quiet post of a Provincial Curator in Westphalia. However, following WWII, he continued his positive role and lead the Allies to more than ten major Nazi hideouts of the looted art in Germany and Czechoslovakia. Hoping to learn more about Wolff Metternich, his family, education and the spirit he was brought up in, I had visited in 2006 Metternich's family former estates in Kromeriz and Plasy where young aristocrat had spent extended period of time in the late twenties. The property owner, Wolff's uncle Count Clemens Wenzel Metternich-Winneburg (1869-1930) was then married to Isabel de Silva y Carvajal, a cousin of the Spanish king. The couple usually spent winters in cosmopolitan Vienna, and used the castle in Kromeriz and Plasy primarily as their summer dwelling. The rich family tradition and the atmosphere created there by its founder, the Chancellor is felt everywhere. The Kynzvart castle built in the Viennese classicist style features a priceless art collection acquired by the art-loving Metternich during his lifetime. Paintings by Anthony Van Dyck, Pieter Brueghel and Paolo Veronese are adorned by the Tizian's most famous masterpiece - "Apollo and Mars." Splendid interiors of Kynzvart Castle also house four late Gothic altar-pieces, created by the German painter Bernard Strigel (1461 - 1528) in 1510, indisputably ranking among the most precious exhibits. Strigel's paramount panels depict the legend of finding the remains of the Holly Cross. They may have originated from the monastery at Ochsenhausen which was taken over by the Chancellor's father, Prince Francis George of Metternich in 1803. The collections also include a French Renaissance tapestry with a hunting scene dating back to 1560, and several Renaissance and early Baroque portraits. Initially, many items used to adorn Chancellor Metternich's villa in Vienna. Some marble sculptures (e. g. "Cupid and Psyche") originated in Antonio Canova's workshop in Rome, reliefs were made by Bertel Thorwaldsen, while some other sculptures and busts were created by Christian Rauch, Pietro Fontana, Pompeo Marchese, Giuseppe Pisani and Pietro
Tenerani. In total, this unique set consists of 36 marble Classical sculptures. In 1908 these works of art were transferred to Kynzvart (including the French Imperial Style decorative vases and plinth made of malachite, porfyrite, alabaster and marble). In 1828 Metternich chose the St. Wenzel church in Plasy to as a place to build his family tomb in. Twentythree embalmed corpses had been already resting there at the time of Wolff's visits. Soon afterwards in 1930, the coffin with the remains of his uncle Clemens Wenzel was also added, making him the last of the family to be buried in Plasy. WWII effectively ended the three hundred and fifteen years-long Metternichs presence in Bohemia. At the end of the war, the last of the kin - Paul Alfons and his aristocratic Russian wife Tatyana Wasillichkov had to escape from Plasy overnight to avoid a capture by the quickly advancing Soviet Red Army. Leaving all their family possession behind, they settled down at the Johannisburg castle on the banks of Main River in Aschaffenburg, Bavaria. With Paul Alfons' death in 1992, the Winneburg branch of the Metternich's family officially died off. Their properties in Czechoslovakia were long before nationalized by the Czechoslovakian government as a result of the controversial President Benes' post-WWII decree about evacuation of almost 3 mil. German nationals and a confiscation of their property. A renovation of the castle was finished in 2000 turning Kynzvart into one of the most valued Czech architectural landmarks. Its art collection has always been considered as one of the most valuable in Central Europe. In 2002, the castle and its gardens were placed by the UNESCO on the "World Heritage List." While I was able to piece together many facts about many other members of Metternich family, my search for Wolff Metternich himself seemed to be going nowhere. Neither the Prague family archive nor the German Bundesarchiv revealed any interesting details on his young years and visits to Czechoslovakia. Then in summer of 2006 my numerous appeals for witnesses and information were suddenly answered by a middle-aged man whose familiarity with the Metternichs' clan was surprising. His information gave eventually my investigation a new direction. As Mr. K. explained, his great grandmother Mrs. Emilie Nova had worked for the Metternichs as a chambermaid both in Vienna and in Kynzvart and Plasy in1900-1920. In 1909 she gave birth to a boy whose father (as we can gather from several of her letters) was until then childless Count Clement Wenzel. Although the boy's birth certificate does not mention his father's name, Eduard had been brought up by the Metternchs as their own; eight years later together with the Count's first official son Paul Alfons (1917-1992). When Clemens-Wenzel Metternich died on May 15 1930 in Munich, Paul Alfons at the age of thirteen became the sole heir to the family fortune. I failed to find anything more about the fate of Mrs. Emilie Nova. Her son Eduard Novy died in 1981, he was cremated and buried in the Prague's Olsany cemetery. Interestingly enough, neither Paul Alfons Metternich nor his Russian wife Tatyana Wasillitchkov (1915-2006) whom he married in 1942 in Grunewald, Germany never mentioned Eduard or his mother in their memoirs. Very little is also known about Paul's father Count Clemens-Wenzel who apparently died of syphilis. Although most of the documents at my disposal seem to support my informer's claim to be a continuator of the Metternich's family, it became apparent that the only concisive proof about it could be gained through a DNA test. During the past several years, a series of successful anthropological and medical experiments have been carried out in Czech Republic. By using discovered physical remains, a group of scientists lead by a worldrenown anthropologist and doctor Emanuel Vlcek (1925-2006) succeeded in identifying several important figures in the Czech history, determined their age, likeness and unique features, established cause of death, etc. Among them the kings Charles IV. (1316-1378) and Ladislav Pohrobek (1440-1457), the warlord Jan Zizka of Trocnov (1360-1424) and the military leader Albrecht of Valdstein (1583-1634.) In none of these cases though did Prof. Vlcek use the DNA test - a legacy he left to the next generation of scientists.
The recent discoveries made the City Council in Plasy (Metternichs' tomb administrator) willing to discuss and eventually even grant me an approval to exhume the corpse of Clemens Wenzel Metternich and to collect his DNA sample. It was going to be matched against the one that my medical team had already gotten from Mr. K. To give our undertaking the best expertise possible, I have contacted several international DNA institutes and discussed with them thoroughly the entire process of the test. American, Swiss, British and Swedish doctors shared their own experiences and although somewhat skeptical about the viability of the DNA samples we might collect from the corpse, they agreed to cooperate. The main problem though was that the all-masculine link between Clemens Wenzel and Mr. K. was interrupted at one point by a female relative, making the Y-chromosome testing impossible to apply. On February 19, 2007, I found myself standing in front of the door leading to the Metternichs' crypt at Plasy St. Wenzel's church. A Latin "PAX VOBIS" ("Let There be Peace with You") sign painted in gold letters spanned over the small entrance. My team consisted of two doctors - Czech DNA specialists, the city Mayor and a cameraman. Employees of the local Funeral Home had already pulled out the wooden coffin of Clemens Wenzel from its iron rack located in the middle row on the left side of the crypt and opened it up. They found one more zinc plate casket inside containing the aristocrat's physical remains. It had a small 25x15 cm glass window at the upper part, allowing a glimpse at the Count's disintegrating face. Since to open the casket completely and expose the entire corpse would have meant to virtually cut it in half, the doctors opted to work through the small opening. Approximately one hour later, carefully carrying several plastic begs containing the precious DNA samples and relieved that the most demanding task of this project was over, we left the crypt. The samples were immediately delivered to the Prague Gennet Lab, the most advanced specialized workplace in Czech Republic. Meantime, the lab has managed to gather several other DNA samples from Mr. K.'s deceased relatives that turned out viable and were able to compensate for our inability to perform the Y-chromosome test. They included the post stamps lifted from the letters written by Mr. K.'s great grandmother around 1908, his grandfather's two unfinished cigarettes in a silver case, etc. As of this writing in April 2007, the testing will continue for another couple weeks before the final results are known. If the matching of Mr. K.'s and Count Clemens Wenzel von Metternich's DNA samples turns positive, it will almost certainly open a can of worms. The Czech government will not escape yet another test of its fragile relationship with neighboring Germany on the issue that nobody is anxious to discuss. Was the post-WWII Czech decision to confiscate legally owned German property justified and if so, why it involved those Germans who had clearly proved their anti-Nazi sentiments and risked their lives by fighting against Hitler?
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Archives, doc. materials, personal testemonials
Grimsted Patricia K., Historian/ Author, Harvard University, Ukrainian Research Institute; Smejkal Ladislav, Historian, Ceska Lipa Museum; Rydygr Zdenek, Historian, Military History Club, Ceska Lipa; Masek Oto Dr., Dpt. Castle Libraries, National Museum; Antonin Lubos, Historian, National Museum; Slezak Miro, Owner, Castle Novy Berstejn, Simonek Jan, Owner, Castle Houska; Akinsha Konstantin, Art Historian/Author, “ArtNews”; Lowery Colm, Microbiologist/Author, University of Cork; Cichon Petr, Writer/Journalist, “Host do Domu”; Dobisikova Jana Dr., Genetist, National Museum, Prague; Broucek Jan MUDr, Genetist, Institute of Criminology ; Marec Frantisek, Genetist, Charles University in C.B.; Kate Styer, Gen Tree DNA, Salt Lake City, Utah; Bennett Greenspan, President, Family Tree DNA, Houston, Texas; Joelle Apter, Gentest, Switzerland; Semikhodskii Andrei, Director, Medical Genomics Ltd, London, G.B.; Kukla Pavel Dr., Dentist; Dekanova Ivana, Sales Rep, IBM; Jizersky Jan, military pilot Production Support & Assistance
Hurt Miloslav, Mayor, Plasy, CR; Sebrankova Eva, City Hall Plasy; Bennett Mark, Journalist, “Black Ice Magazine,” Touge Pierre Alain, TV Producer, Paris; Wimmer Roman, Political Lobbyist; SteenOlsen Peter, TV Producer; Pitnerova Zdena, Educator, Home for Displaced Children, Novy Falkenburk; Novotna Irena, Historian Technical & Logistical Support
Hanus Frantisek, Geologist, Prague City Hall Camera/Photography
Straka Oldrich, Cameraman; Sembera Jan, Photographer, Hlavaty Pavel, Cameraman, Tichy Frantisek, Cameraman Bibliography
“Returned from Russia” by Patricia K. Grimsted; “The Rape of Europa” by Lynn H. Nicholas; “The Apothecary” by Adrian Mathews; “Reich of the Black Sun” by Joseph P. Farrell; “Beautiful Loot” by Konstantin Akinsha & Grigori Kozlov Media Coverage
"Prague Post," Levy Alan; "Black Ice Magazine," Benett Mark; "Helsinki Times," Laukka Petri; "Thesau Magazine," Touge Pierre Alain; "Prognosis," Mabe H. Morgan; "Prague Pill," Jayne Micah; "Radio Metropolis," Michaelís Deborah; "National Geographic," Kobersteen J. Kent; "Rocks and Minerals," Marie Huizing; "Life Magazine," Howe Peter; "Frontline," Campbell Marrin; "Primetime Live," ABC News, Rosen Ira; "Tribune Entertainment," Cooper Shelly, "Reflex Magazine," Klima Josef; "NOVA-TV", Klima Josef; "CT-1"; "NHK-TV," Shigenobu Tutala; "Bayerischer Rundfunk," Kellhammer Angelika; "Newsweek," Krosnar Katka; "BBC Europe," Shukman David; "Koktejl Magazine," Slama Milan; "TIME Magazine Europe," Labi Aisha; "Suddeutsche Zeitung", Katzenberg Paul; "The Economist," Konviser I. Bruce; "ARD-TV,” Pffeifer Fritz; “London Times” O’Neil Phillipe Donors
Landau Robert, Principal, ISP; Glazier Joshua, Developer, Chicago; Sammi Tom, Real Estate Exec., Spectrum, Prague; Duchoslav Zdenek, Archeologist; Bakker Frans, Financial Dir., Phillips Int., Boston; Rubens Ogan, Developer, Africa-Israel, Prague; Macek Otto, Art Director c 2007 jaro sveceny The material contained herein is protected by copyright laws of America. No portions or excerpts can be used without an explicit approval by the copyright holder.