Schliemann und das Gold von Troja

Today, as in his lifetime, he remains a controversial figure: Schliemann and his discoveries in Troy.

Merchant's assistant, gold seeker, shipwreck survivor, war victor, tomb raider, and discoverer of Troy following in the footsteps of Homer – Heinrich Schliemann's incredible life and his complicated legacy.

He continues to be a fascination, and his legacy is highly disputed. Whether Heinrich Schliemann truly found Troy or if the ruins he excavated with brute force in search of treasures were something entirely different is still a matter of debate. His most significant finds, the Treasure of Priam and the Treasure of Agamemnon, are astonishing. However, they have nothing to do with Priam or Agamemnon. To this day, his gold from Troy has sparked disputes that have even led to political entanglements – for Schliemann initially smuggled the golden treasures out of the country illegally, and then they disappeared from Berlin at the end of World War II. It wasn't until 1994 that a Russian museum director revealed that Soviet soldiers had taken them to Moscow.

Even among archaeologists, Schliemann is as controversial as he is disliked, and although half of them might have turned out quite differently without youthful readings of Schliemann, the fact that he disposed of finds from entire cultural periods as rubble remains a sacrilege.

Schliemann's entire life reads like a legendary tale of rags to riches: From a merchant's assistant in Fürstenberg on the Havel, he became a bank founder during the California Gold Rush, and in Russia, he became a millionaire through gunpowder speculation during the Crimean War – then he traveled the world as a travel writer and treasure hunter in the footsteps of Homer. One thing is certain: Few Germans have inspired the imagination of people as much as Heinrich Schliemann. This is why reading about him is as thrilling as a crime novel.