Essen Cathedral Treasury

The Essen Cathedral Treasury (German: Essener Domschatz) is one of the most significant collections of religious artworks in Germany. A great number of items of treasure are accessible to the public in the treasury chamber of Essen Minster. The cathedral chapter manages the treasury chamber, not as a museum as in some places, but as the place in which liturgical implements and objects are kept, which continued to be used to this day in the service of God, so far as their conservation requirements allow.

The Cathedral Treasury derives from the treasury of the former Canonesses of Essen, which passed to St Johann Baptist after the secularisation of the order in 1803.

During the Ruhr Uprising in 1920, the entire treasury was smuggled out to Hildesheim in secret, from which it was returned in 1925.

During the Second World War the Treasury was taken first to Warstein, then to Albrechtsburg in Meissen and from there to Siegen, where it was sealed in Hain tunnel to protect it from aerial bombing. After the end of the war it was found there by American troops and brought to the State Museum in Marburg, and later to a collection of displaced artworks in Schloss Dyck, Rheydt. From April to October 1949, the Essen Cathedral Treasury was displayed in Brussels and Amsterdam and after that it was brought back to Essen.

In 1953 the Treasure was displayed in an exhibition in the Villa Hügel. In 1957 the Treasure became the property of the then newly established Diocese of Essen. The Treasury Chamber was first made accessible to the public without charge in 1958 at the wish of the first Bishop of Essen, Franz Hengsbach.

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