Sweden´s Cultural Spoils

The article in The New York Times was published in March 3th. Here are some of little parties of it:

“Sweden stocked its libraries and museums and churches with stolen arms, books, altarpieces, textiles and art.”

Under the Communists, Poland and Czechoislovakia also made some noises about getting back what Sweden took. The Swedes voluntered to return a treasured scroll to the Poles as a goodwill gesture.

The Czechs longed for the Silver Bible, produced around 520 in Ravenna, Italy. It hade wended its way to a monastery in Essen, Germany, before ending up in the hands of Rudolph II in Prague., from whom Sweden´s Queen Christina grabbed it in 1648. Recently the Swedes have loaned the so-called Devil´s Bible to the Czech Republic, but they are not going to fork over either Bible permanently. Former Eastern bloc countries are caught today between pressing to recover works like these Bibles and proving themeselves to be agreable partners in the European Union. It is a tricky diplomatic problem that 17th-century monarchs like Christina clearly did not face.

“Do not forget to procure and send me the library and the rarities there in Praguje,” she instracted her troops. “These, as you know, are all I really care about.”