Six Tabatières and a Break-in (Nos. 11

Here you can see three ceremonial snuffboxes belonging to Frederick the Great. Originally, they were crafted from moss agate and lapis lazuli and set with diamonds.

These small boxes were highly prized fashion items in the 18th century. They served a very practical purpose: they were used to store pills, candies, cosmetics, beauty plasters, or even snuff and smoking tobacco.

Frederick the Great used such boxes primarily for his beloved snuff. He always carried one with him. When he died in 1786, there are said to have been more than 100 diamond-set boxes at Sanssouci Palace. This shows the value and prominence these small objects held in his daily life.

However, the history of the pieces on display here is not only glamorous; it is also dramatic. Until 1953, six of Frederick’s ceremonial snuffboxes were housed at Hohenzollern Castle. Then a burglary occurred. The six snuffboxes were stolen and irretrievably destroyed.

The sequence of events reads almost like a crime novel. On a foggy night, a man named Paul Falk made his way through the forest toward the castle with a stolen ladder. Using this ladder, he scaled the castle walls quietly and unnoticed. He then used bolt cutters to sever the metal bars on the treasure chamber window. Through the opening, he climbed into the treasure chamber.

There he made a rich haul. He took plates made of Silesian gold, medals and goblets, snuffboxes belonging to Frederick the Great, and even the emperor’s marshal’s baton. The crown, however, to everyone’s astonishment, was left behind.

Paul Falk was later caught because of the bolt cutters. Children found them while playing in the forest. But by then it was already too late for most of the objects. They had already been melted down or had vanished without a trace.

Fortunately, at least some of them could be salvaged. Gold settings—some with their original gemstones still intact—were recovered from three of the six snuffboxes. They were partially restored. You can see these pieces here under numbers 11 through 13.

So what stands before you today are not only precious snuff boxes, but also silent witnesses to a history that is as magnificent as it is fraught with loss.