Swedish royal regalia found in rubbish bags
Police in central Sweden made an unusual discovery on Monday evening when they found two large rubbish bags containing a recently stolen sceptre and crown used in the sixteenth-century funeral of Sweden's King Johan III.
The find was made on highway 555 between Västerås and Hallstahammar, not far from the E18 motorway.
"An anonymous tipster called and said where the loot was, so we just had to go out and get it," Ann-Charlotte Israelsson of the Västmanland County police told the TT news agency.
The stolen items - a bronze crown and sceptre and a gilded wooden apple - were kept by the grave of Erik XIV, King Johan III's half-brother, who was buried without regalia in Västerås in 1577.
The theft was discovered on Friday morning by a member of staff at the cathedral, prompting police to issue a nationwide alert in hopes of recovering items considered "invaluable" by cathedral chaplain Johan Sköld.
On Monday, officials from the Västerås Cathedral were overjoyed that the burial regalia had been found.
"They are so happy and relieved that we were able to recover the missing items," Israelsson said.
The regalia is now in possession of the police, who now plan to see if they can secure any clues that might lead them to whoever carried out the brazen overnight robbery.
"If it had been thieves who had them in their possession, I don't think they would have wanted to be discovered with the items. But we don't know if it might have been a thief who got cold feet and called to tip us off about there the items were," said Israelsson.
The stolen sceptre and crown, which are made of bronze and have silver details, were produced in the Netherlands in the sixteenth century. The gilded wooden apple was made in the nineteenth century.
Johan III, the son of King Gustav Vasa, was born in 1537 and died in 1592. King Gustav III arranged for the sceptre and crown, which had been used in King Johan III's funeral procession, to be moved to Västerås in 1800 and placed by the grave of Erik XIV.
Funeral regalia were traditionally used in royal burials in Sweden to symbolize the deceased royal's identity and social stature. They were placed inside or on top of the coffin. A second set of golden regalia used in Johan III's funeral is still kept in Uppsala.
TT/The Local/dl
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The find was made on highway 555 between Västerås and Hallstahammar, not far from the E18 motorway.
"An anonymous tipster called and said where the loot was, so we just had to go out and get it," Ann-Charlotte Israelsson of the Västmanland County police told the TT news agency.
The stolen items - a bronze crown and sceptre and a gilded wooden apple - were kept by the grave of Erik XIV, King Johan III's half-brother, who was buried without regalia in Västerås in 1577.
The theft was discovered on Friday morning by a member of staff at the cathedral, prompting police to issue a nationwide alert in hopes of recovering items considered "invaluable" by cathedral chaplain Johan Sköld.
On Monday, officials from the Västerås Cathedral were overjoyed that the burial regalia had been found.
"They are so happy and relieved that we were able to recover the missing items," Israelsson said.
The regalia is now in possession of the police, who now plan to see if they can secure any clues that might lead them to whoever carried out the brazen overnight robbery.
"If it had been thieves who had them in their possession, I don't think they would have wanted to be discovered with the items. But we don't know if it might have been a thief who got cold feet and called to tip us off about there the items were," said Israelsson.
The stolen sceptre and crown, which are made of bronze and have silver details, were produced in the Netherlands in the sixteenth century. The gilded wooden apple was made in the nineteenth century.
Johan III, the son of King Gustav Vasa, was born in 1537 and died in 1592. King Gustav III arranged for the sceptre and crown, which had been used in King Johan III's funeral procession, to be moved to Västerås in 1800 and placed by the grave of Erik XIV.
Funeral regalia were traditionally used in royal burials in Sweden to symbolize the deceased royal's identity and social stature. They were placed inside or on top of the coffin. A second set of golden regalia used in Johan III's funeral is still kept in Uppsala.
TT/The Local/dl
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