The case of the unknown crown

The story of how "Birger Jarl's crown case" returned to Sweden.

Forest Landscape (c. 1838 - 1848) by Edward LearThe Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Once upon a time, or so the legend goes, a travelling Journeyman tramping the dusty roads in northern Germany stopped at a farm for a cup of coffee. The farmer’s wife kept her precious coffee beans in a battered leather case that the Journeyman immediately suspected to be quite old indeed. In the musky haze of the kitchen he could discern rich ornaments, and he could clearly see that the worn object was a work of art, more than a simple caddy.

Birger Jarl's Crown Case, unknown artisan, 1300/1350, From the collection of: Swedish History Museum
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A coffee box found in Northen Germany in 1859.

An Embossed Seal (14th Century) by unknown artisanSwedish History Museum

In fact, it was no Journeyman but the wealthy publisher and avid collector Friedrich Culemann who obtained the leather case from the farmer’s wife. The first time the object was described in print was in 1865. Dr Fritz Hahn wrote, prompted by an article in a yearly print from the Society for Antiquities in the Rhineland about the crown and crown-case of Namur: "Mr Senator Culemann owns something like it, a very beautiful crown case, but different from the described. It stems from a Swedish King (I do not recall the name), who had to leave his Fatherland and died in a German Monastery (in Paulinzell in the 13th C, if I am not mistaken). That one is covered with black leather onto which the King’s seal and other decorations are pressed."

Top View of a Case (1864) by Joseph SchönbrunnerSwedish History Museum

It appeared the same year in a lavish book on the Imperial Regalia of the Holy Roman Empire of German Nation by Pater Franz Bock. The case was at this point named “Birger Jarl’s Crown Case” due to the three imprinted seals upon it.

Birger Magnusson (c. 1210-1266) was regent of Sweden from 1248 and styled himself Jarl (Duke). At the time Sweden was a conglomerate of minor dukedoms and counties on the verge of becoming a kingdom.

A Lock with Two Embossed Seals (14th Century) by unknown artisanSwedish History Museum

In view of that there are preciously few objects left from Birger Jarl’s reign, and certainly no crown (and the crown-case would be a good substitute) the Swedish government was highly interested in obtaining the case. It took 108 years to negotiate the transaction. And it took, obviously, some trouble to do so.

Front Page of a Newspaper (19th Century) by Carl Johan BackmanSwedish History Museum

King Karl XV of Sweden and the Custodian of the National Heritage Board Bror Hildebrand tried in the 1870’s to persuade Senator Culemann to sell the case, to no avail. The Custodian of the National Heritage Board Hans Hildebrand (yes, the son followed the father in the office) tried to muscle in on the deal when the Culemann collection was purchased by the new Kestner Museum in Hannover in 1887.

A Copy of a Crown Case, unknown maker, 19th Century, From the collection of: Swedish History Museum
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In lieu of the real crown case, a replica was made for the History Museum in Stockholm. Today it is stored together with other copies.

Detail of a Lock (1864) by Joseph SchönbrunnerSwedish History Museum

Because of the case’s prominence it never left the Swedish consciousness entirely in the 19th Century. The nationalistic sentiment almost required the case to be “repatriated”. And in 1925 the time was rife to broach the question once again.

“Sweden is no great power and has only six million inhabitants”, the German embassy Counsellor Wipert von Blücher correctly stated in a report to the German Foreign Office. But, he concluded, as a way of paving the way to reassumed good relations after the Great War, it would be beneficial to donate Birger Jarl’s crown-case to Sweden. Nothing happened, however.

A Letter from the Monuments Men (20th Century) by Christopher NorrisSwedish History Museum

When the Second World War had ended Dr Bengt Thordeman at the History Museum in Stockholm thought it opportune to reopen the case. He wrote to the occupying forces and received the reply that “Military Government could not sponsor any negotiations for its sale or exchange for the time being”. This did not, however, refrain him from trying and he had to apologize to the Director of the Kestner Museum Dr Carl Küthmann for pursuing the matter: "I would not like to give you the impression, that we in Sweden are taking advantage of the current situation in Germany in order to strike a good bargain."

Crown Case (14th Century) by unknown artisanSwedish History Museum

Albeit a weak apology, hazy in its sincerity, it meant a temporary stop in repatriating the case to Sweden. While biding the time Dr Monica Rydbeck wrote an essay on the case in 1952 based upon a previous essay by Dr Hans Wentzel from 1941, interleaved with verbal input from Dr Sven Tunberg, followed by an essay by Dr Ernst Schramm in 1956.

A Lock with Two Embossed Seals (14th Century) by unknown artisanSwedish History Museum

To summarize, the esteemed Doctors mentioned several problematic points.

The imprinted decorations and seals are irregularly, almost slovenly, placed.

The design was believed to be atypical for the 14th Century. The Wheel of Fortune placed alongside a seated Christ, for example. The case's diameter (only 19 cm) was thought to be too small for a man's crown. The case must have been made for a Queen, they argued. The doctors agreed and disagreed for decades.

An Image of Christ (14th Century) by unknown artisanSwedish History Museum

Dr Rydbeck also could reveal that there were two other objects in the History Museum in Stockholm that had similar ornamentation: a leather clad box and a church bell cast in bronze. 

An Inventory Card for a Bell (20th Century) by unknownSwedish History Museum

The flickering hope of a possible exchange between the Kestner Museum and the History Museum was, in this manner, kept alive and the retirement of Dr Küthmann in 1951 must have rekindled the aspirations from the Swedish side. The History Museum started planning for a temporary exhibition with a Very Special Leather Case as one of its prime exhibits. The exhibition Folkungatid opened in 1957. Although sparsely covered by the press, it is quite clear that Birger Jarl’s Crown-case was the “poster boy” of the exhibition. 

A Monstrance to Demonstrate (c. 1425) by UnknownSwedish History Museum

When the case had been returned to the Kestner Museum its Director Dr Irmgard Woldering finally, with the blessing of the City council, accepted a quid por quo loan: the crown-case in return for an Irish crozier. Dr Rydbeck, at the point Director of the Medieval Department at the History Museum, suggested the crozier – or a German-made monstrance, if it was more acceptable – as it had no place in the museum’s oeuvre. Dr Thordeman, having risen to Custodian of the National Heritage Board, admitted that he “up until now have dealt with this matter wholly unauthorized”, which meant some red tape to unravel before the transaction could go through. 

The Agahdoe Crozier (12th Century) by unknown artisanSwedish History Museum

Director Woldering got cold feet, however, fearing the Culemann family’s stern reproach. At an earlier stage she had written that “we will not ask for permission from the Culemann family”, but on second though she felt that a transaction might mean “great trouble in Hannover, yes, possibly endangering the entire collection”. And so, the case lingered.

The Wheel of Fortune (14th Century) by unknown artisanSwedish History Museum

Sadly enough, Director Woldering met with Birger Jarl before the deal was executed. And Dr Rydbeck was rapidly nearing her professional nadir. She went in for the kill in May 1972, half a year before retirement. After a visit on site and some negotiation the contract was signed in October 1972. On the 9th of December the newspaper Expressen had a picture of Drs Munro and Rydbeck and the crown case with the text: "Monica Rydbeck has worked many years to get the original to the History Museum. This Friday morning, she received it from the hands of Dr Peter Munro."

Birger Jarl's Seal (14th Century) by unknown artisanSwedish History Museum

The crozier has since, rightly and as a long-term loan, found its way to the National Museum of Ireland but the true original owner of the crown-case is yet unclear.

Thus far, with rough and all-unable pen is as far as the scholars have come up to date, and most possibly the reason for still calling the artefact “Birger Jarl’s Crown Case”.

Credits: Story

Text: G. Sandell, Curator SHM

Sources:
Documents regarding the Collections at the History Museum, ATA
Documents regarding Foreign Correspondence, ATA

Aftonbladet 27 April 1900
Dagens Nyheter, 9 December 1972
Der Deutsche Herold, April 1900.
Expressen, 15 February 1957
Göteborgs Aftonblad, 2 May 1900.
Göteborgs Handels- & Sjöfartstidning, 9 August 1865.
Ny Illustrerad Tidning, 5 August 1865.
Norrköpings Tidningar, 26 November 1887.
Post och Inrikes Tidningar 25 July 1870

Bock, Franz. 1864. Prospectus. Die Kleinodien des Heil. Römischen Reichs Deutscher Nation. T. O. Weigel: Leipzig.
Bock, Franz. 1864. Die Kleinodien des Heil. Römischen Reichs Deutscher Nation. K.u.K. Hofe U. Staatsdruckerei: Wien.
Cederström, Rudolf. 1942. De svenska riksregalierna och kungliga värdighetstecken. Livrustkammaren: Stockholm.
Guide to the Medieval Department, the History Museum, 1922
Jahrbücher des Vereins von Alterthumsfreunden im Rheinlande, Heft XXXVII & XXXVIII. 1864 & 1865. A. Marcus: Bonn.
Montelius, Oskar. 1877. Sveriges Historia från äldsta tid till våra dagar. Hjalmar Linnströms förlag: Stockholm.
Rydbeck, Monica. 1952 ”Birger Jarls kronfodral i ny belysning” in Arkeologiska forskningar och fynd.
Schramm, Percy Ernst (Ed.). 1956. “Herrschaftszeichen und Staatssymbolik” in Schriften der Monumenta Germaniae historica, Band III. Anton Hiersemann: Stuttgart.
Thordeman, Bengt. 1957. ”Riksantikvariens årsberättelse” in Kungl. Vitterhets
Wentzel, Hans. 1940. “Der Kronkasten der Folkunger“ in Zeitschrift des Vereins für Lübeckische Geschichte und Altertumskunde, Band XXX, Heft 1.
Wentzel, Hans. 1942. “Der Kronkasten der Folkunger” in Pantheon; Monatsschrift für Freunde und Sammler der Kunst. F. Bruckmann Verlag: München.

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
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