History of Juodkrante

Amber treasure

Stantien & Becker would dig up many pieces of amber shaped as amulets or knick-knacks. At first they would give them out as souvenirs, but then started collecting these items from the Mid Neolithic and the Bronze Ages. Richard Klebs, professor at Königsberg University, described 435 items (pendants, buttons, tubular beads, discs, and figurines of humans and animals) in his book Stone Age Amber Adornments in 1882. These ancient Schwarzorter Funde are considered to contain the earliest known amber carving finds from the Baltic Sea area (with amber carvings thousands of years older in other locations). About 150 items have detailed images. The collection was exhibited in Berlin, St. Petersburg, London, Chicago. After Klebs' death, Königsberg University purchased his collection. However, during the turbulent times of World War II and the expulsions from East Prussia most of the large collection in Königsberg was destroyed or stolen and only a few items were saved at Göttingen University, previously the sister university of Königsberg. But scientists were able to make replicas from detailed illustrations in Klebs' book