13. Nazi gold was discovered in Germany in 2015
The fabled Nazi gold train, a train laden with gold and silver bullion, precious jewels, and priceless paintings and other artwork, said to be buried somewhere in Germany or Austria, remains elusive as of 2018. But portions of Nazi gold have been discovered, including in 2015 the unearthing of a cache of gold coins found in Luneberg, Germany. The coins were buried in a hollowed out area beneath a tree, and dated from 1831 to 1910. Italian, French, Belgian, and Austro-Hungarian issues were all part of the cache, which would seemingly link them to an earlier age than the Second World War, but buried with them were seals upon which appeared the Nazi eagle symbol, swastikas, and the identifier “Reichsbank Berlin”, the name of Germany’s central bank under the Nazi regime.
Luneberg was the location where Reichsfuhrer SS Heinrich Himmler committed suicide while in custody of the British Army. Himmler killed himself using a cyanide capsule after it was clear that the British knew who he was (he had tried to flee incognito) and before they were able to interrogate him fully. Several other SS officers and their aides were captured in the area during the confused final days of the war and immediately following the German surrender. Who stashed the cache of gold coins, 217 in all, remains a mystery, but they were likely looted from their original owners and hidden as a hedge, possibly to aid in escaping the Allied authorities via the ratlines set up through Western Europe. Himmler was buried in an unmarked location near where the coins were discovered.
