Silver of the Welfs

Coins and medals of the Welfs reflect fascinating aspects of economic and monetary history: Beginning in the early 16th century, new silver mines were opened in the Harz Mountains and the first silver thalers were minted. Soon, the Welfs had to respond to the import of silver from the newly discovered Americas: To combat inflation, Duke Julius had the large Löser coins minted toward the end of the century. The Welf silver medals emerged from the iconography of these extraordinary pieces. The silver mines of the Harz Mountains remained significant: In the Welfs’ representative medal art, the Harz mines or the Wild Man – a symbolic figure of the Harz – appear alongside portraits of the princes and symbols of their rule.

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Silver Mining and Welf Medal Art

Silver Medal, George II of Great Britain, 1729
© Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, J. Wienand

Silver mining flourished in early modern Central Europe. Thanks to new technical methods, new silver veins were discovered in the Harz Mountains, and a considerable amount of silver was extracted. This precious metal became the basis for modern coin and medal minting in the Brunswick region; a large portion of the silver mined in the Harz Mountains was used for coin and medal production. Initially, the precious metal was used to mint the taler, a newly introduced large coin; at the same time, the medal became widespread in princely circles as a coin-like token of prestige. Under Duke Julius, the minting of the so-called “Löser” began in 1574: large silver pieces worth several times the value of a taler. The issuance of the Löser was intended to prevent too much money from circulating within the country and flowing abroad as domestic silver production grew. Due to the influx of large quantities of precious metal following the exploration of the newly discovered continent of America, coin minting in Europe had expanded significantly in the 16th century, leading to steadily increasing currency devaluation and rising prices. Duke Julius sought his own way to prevent currency depreciation and the resulting price increases in his country, not least because of declining treasury revenues. In modern terms, the Löser were thus a kind of economic reserve or compulsory bond that could be reclaimed when investment was needed or in the event of war. This ensured a steady supply of high-quality silver in the country without allowing too much money to circulate. At the same time, this development gave rise to a distinct ducal program of representation that had a decisive influence on the later medal art of the Welfs.

The Braunschweigische Landessparkasse Coin Research Collection

Silver Thaler, Augustus the Younger of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, 1655, Inv. No. 777, from the Numismatic Research Collection of the Braunschweigischen Sparkassenstiftung — Silver Thaler, Augustus the Younger of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, 1655
© Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, J. Wienand

The “Coin Research Collection of the Braunschweigische Landessparkasse at the Braunschweigische Sparkassenstiftung” is a collection of more than 8,000 coins and medals from the Welf dukes of all lines, the cities located within Welf territory – particularly Brunswick – and the bishoprics, abbeys, and monasteries associated with the Welfs. The origins of the coin research collection date back to the 19th century and lie in the coin holdings of the Braunschweig State Bank. The majority of the objects were acquired by NORD/LB between the 1960s and 1990s. The collection represents the development of Welf coinage and medal art with a precision found nowhere else. Especially in the area of Brunswick Welf coinage dating from around 1500, the collection is unparalleled; for example, it includes an extensive and unique collection of proofs and trial coins from the 16th to the 18th centuries. In building the collection, coin issues from all years were systematically assembled based on scholarly criteria; moreover, a deliberate search was conducted for special features such as clippings, misstrikes, and variants, which are significant for our understanding of early modern coinage and enable important economic-historical research.

The collection is intended to be available to the museum on a long-term, permanent loan basis, and the exhibition will regularly feature additional themes drawn from the collection’s holdings.

No superlative can do them justice: the Welfs’ silver furniture! The 13 pieces – two ceremonial mirrors, two tables, four gueridons, and five chairs – were crafted between 1725 and 1730 in the finest workshops of their time in Augsburg and are unparalleled. Worldwide! Artists from the famous goldsmith dynasties of Biller and Drentwett were employed on the project. As outstanding examples of princely representation and masterpieces of goldsmithing, they were entrusted to the Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum as permanent loans from the House of Hanover for the duration of the renovation of Marienburg Castle near Hildesheim. They tell the story of their ill-fated patron in Vienna, the spectacular acquisition by Duke August Wilhelm of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, and their adventurous journey through three centuries of European history.

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The clients who commissioned the silver jewelry

Detail of a very large silver mirror with a horse relief — Silver Ceremonial Mirror (Detail), Augsburg, 1725/26
© Gerald Freyer

The first eight pieces of silver furniture – the two ceremonial mirrors, two tables, and four guéridons (side tables or candlesticks) – were commissioned by Prince Maximilian Wilhelm of Hanover (1666–1726), who resided in Vienna and was the younger brother of King George I.

Prince Maximilian Wilhelm lived in Vienna as an imperial general and had converted to Catholicism. This made it all the more important to him to reference his origins in Europe’s oldest dynasty. Consequently, the furniture is adorned with numerous heraldic symbols of the Welfs: these include the lions (Lüneburg) and leopards (Brunswick) as coat-of-arms symbols, as well as the magnificently sculpted Welf horses on the table legs and mirror crowns. With these sensational works, the prince sought to permanently legitimize both his own status and that of his family in a foreign land through artistic excellence.

However, Prince Maximilian Wilhelm was not able to enjoy the precious pieces for long. He died in 1726, shortly after their completion. Duke August Wilhelm of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1662–1731) acquired the silver furniture immediately after his relative’s death and had it transported to Brunswick, where it was housed in the so-called Grauer Hof, the prince’s city residence then under construction. He commissioned the armchair and the four additional chairs to complete the set. They were also made for the duke in Augsburg, in the workshop of Philipp Jakob Drentwett. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the historic long-distance trading city of Augsburg was the international center of silverwork.

However, August Wilhelm had little time to enjoy the now 15 pieces of furniture; he died in 1731. And the silver ensemble’s journey across Europe continued…

The Adventurous Journey of the Silver Furniture

Ornately decorated wall mirror with matching console table and two candlesticks against a blue background. — The triad, consisting of an ornamental mirror, a wall table, and two side tables.
© Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, Kathrin Ulrich

Because August Wilhelm left his successor with substantial debts, the latter sold the silver furniture directly to the rival electoral-royal Welf line in Hanover. King George II (1683–1760) made the transfer of ownership of this outstanding ensemble clear by having his monogram affixed to the armchairs. The furniture was installed in George’s electoral residence, the Leineschloss in Hanover. There it formed the centerpiece of the courtly display of one of Europe’s most prominent noble families.

In 1803, the furniture, along with the entire silver collection of the Leineschloss, was brought to safety in England ahead of the advancing French troops. There, it was, at least temporarily, part of the furnishings of Windsor Castle. King George IV had the silver furniture brought back to Hanover when he began the neoclassical renovation of the Leineschloss there. However, when the Kingdom of Hanover was annexed by Prussia in 1866, King George V took the furniture with him into exile in Austria. By the end of the 19th century, they belonged to the Duke of Cumberland, as the former Crown Prince Ernst August of Hanover (1845–1923) was now known. They were housed in his palace in Vienna, thus returning to the very place where their “journey” had once begun.

In 1933–34, the last Duke of Brunswick moved his residence from Austria to Blankenburg Castle in the Harz Mountains. This marked the second time the silver furniture found its way to the Brunswick region, until it was taken to Marienburg Castle by the British occupying forces in 1945. In 1952, the furniture was on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London; in 1955, it became a temporary part of the exhibition at the Fürstenhaus Herrenhausen, only to return to Marienburg later.

Now, for the third time in three centuries, the silver furniture is making a “guest appearance” in the old Brunswick region. It will return to Marienburg Castle as soon as it can be properly displayed there following the renovation.

A unique collection: The Welfs' ceremonial silver

Table fountain with spherical container decorated with delicate vertical elements and a small figure on top — “Table Fountain” of the Bodenteich District by Master Evert Kettwyck, circa 1628–1643
© Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, Kathrin Ulrich

In the heart of the silver furniture exhibition, the museum presents the three silver-gilded tribute gifts that were acquired in 2009 from the Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé Collection on behalf of the State of Lower Saxony. Until 1705, the goblets were part of the collection of the Silver Chamber at the Celle Residential Palace.

The Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum displays the so-called “Table Fountain of the Bodenteich District,” created by the Hamburg master Evert Kettwyck between 1728 and 1643, as well as the highly significant four-tiered “Grape Cup from Osterode” by Christoph Uder. Both gifts were presented to Duke Christian Ludwig, who ruled the Lüneburg sub-principality from Celle beginning in 1648. The richly decorated “Buckelpokal” from Lüneburg, crafted by the local goldsmith Nicolas Siemens, was presented to the succeeding Duke Georg Wilhelm, who assumed the throne in 1665.

A prince’s accession to the throne was accompanied by a legal act known as the homage, that is, the oath of allegiance by the subjects to their lord, who, in turn, assured them of the preservation of their privileges and rights. A key element of the homage was the presentation of gifts to the prince.

Like the “Welf silverware” already on display at the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum, the three goblets had been part of the House of Hanover’s silver collection since 1705, but were taken abroad as early as the 19th century and eventually sold. Of the 15 tribute gifts sold at a spectacular auction in Paris in 2009, these three major pieces were secured for Lower Saxony through a major effort. The State of Lower Saxony, in cooperation with the Cultural Foundation of the German States, worked to acquire them at the auction. Support was secured from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, the Ernst von Siemens Art Foundation, the Lower Saxony Foundation, the Lower Saxony Savings Bank Foundation, the Braunschweig Cultural Heritage Foundation, the City of Celle, the Rudolf August Oetker Foundation, the VGH Foundation, and Ms. Lieselotte Tansey of Celle.