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Polish treasures in Sweden?

passivus 1 | 3
22 Jul 2019  #1
I understand that when Sweden was a major Baltic power, they invaded Poland and also carried away many treasures from Poland, some of which are now in Swedish museums. I think one such treasure was a metal statue of an auroch. Can any members throw light on these issues. Also are there any attempts by the Polish authorities to recover these national treasures which were looted and are now stored and admired overseas?
kaprys 2 | 1,829
22 Jul 2019  #2
I think there have been some attempts to regain these goods but as usually in vain -just like in case of other exhibits stored in museums worldwide.

As for the loot, a hunting horn made of a horn of the last auroch living in Poland was looted. I don't know if there is any statue of an auroch among the exhibits.

I think they also stole some valuables from Krzyztopor - I must have read about it somewhere.

But they left some cannon balls at Jasna Góra. You can still see them.
Tacitus 2 | 850
22 Jul 2019  #3
Kind of difficult to solve this anyway when one of these conflicts was basically a conflict between a Polish king claiming the crown of Sweden vs another foreign claimant.

Most of the looted treasures belonged to Polish aristocrats, and most decidely not to the Polish state (the Polish aristocrats were insistent on this).
Lyzko 23 | 6,539
22 Jul 2019  #4
As the realm of the Vasa extended well beyond her own native domain, not
too much of a stretch that, as with the Hanseatic League, the Swedes might indeed
have plundered Polish national icons.
Crow 137 | 7,632
22 Jul 2019  #5
Swedes are dirty thieves. Good that you Poles joined force with Russians and kicked Swedes in time, when they tried to scr** you totally.
Lyzko 23 | 6,539
22 Jul 2019  #6
Ohhhho, Crow!
Be careful before you castigate your Swedish "brethren". After all, wasn't Rurik, the "first " Slav, actually an ancestor of the Swedes??!
pawian 161 | 9,846
22 Jul 2019  #7

No, there`s no way and no Polish government has ever tried to. The reason is simple: when Sweden attacked and occupied Polish territory, it wasn`t solely Poland but the Commonwealth - Poland united with Lithuania. Formally, today`s Poland has no right to represent the Commonwealth in court. Also, Tacitus is right about aristocratic or royal property.

some of which are now in Swedish museums.

A Swede tried to explain it to me. It doesn`t matter in which museum they are - Polish or Swedish. What matters is that they didn`t disappear or get destroyed during all wars, risings and occupations which happened in Poland during next 300 years after the Swedish Deluge. They have been preserved as the heritage of European culture and that matters most.
Lyzko 23 | 6,539
22 Jul 2019  #8
Absolutely correct, paw!

If anything, the onus lies with Sweden who may well have '"purloined" said artifacts, as I already posted earlier.
It was once again, Sweden, not Poland, which had considerable trading hegemony throughout much of Europe
during the 17th, up through the middle 19th century, only to be overtaken (with a vengeance, I might add) by Germany:-)

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