Valenta was surprised when he found out that some of the crown jewels are not on Czech soil. According to the Senator, it is a paradox that they are in Austria at the time when we are about to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the foundation of Czechoslovakia.
The part that has been stored in Vienna’s Hofburg treasury consist of the gothic sceptre and orb. Valenta announced his initiative together with lawyer Zdeněk Koudelka, who stated that under the Saint-Germain peace treaty, a set of two scepters and two orbs existed. However, only the renaissance crown jewels are currently in possession of the Czech Republic, while the gothic pieces are in unauthorized possession of Austria.
President Zeman should collaboratively with the Czech government request a return of the crown jewels, suggested Valenta. Both sets of the crown jewels had been in Vienna since the Thirty years’ war, but only the older set used in the late 17th century remained there after Czechoslovakian independence in 1918.
