Verschollenes Erbe: Das burgundische Juwel «Drei Brüder»

Verschollenes Erbe (Lost Heritage) is a piece of jewellery shrouded in mystery that belonged to the Dukes of Burgundy. It was referred to as the “Three Brothers” because of its setting. Duke Carl the Bold lost the piece either in the Battle of Grandson or the Battle of Morat (1476) and it ended up in Basel. Decades later, the city secretly sold the piece to fill up the city coffers. This set in motion a series of further sales, appropriations and losses. The “Three Brothers” is still unfound today, but its disappearance in particular draws attention to the lasting fascination that these precious stones still evoke to the present day. The multifaceted history of the piece of jewellery reads like a crime thriller in places.

This series in four volumes examines four museum exhibits as examples to show how and why objects that were violently looted or confiscated due to religious differences became “art” over the centuries and a part of Swiss cultural heritage.