Bavaria claims archaeological finds to curb illegal treasure hunting

Metal detecting is a popular hobby, but treasure hunters in Bavaria can face criminal charges if they ignore the rules, BR reports. Some do so out of ignorance, while others act deliberately.

The prospect of discovering a hidden treasure has fascinated people for generations. For many detectorists, finding a few lost coins is enough. Others seek more valuable objects and violate the law in the process.

Archaeologist David Biedermann has seen the damage left behind by illegal treasure hunters. His excavation company in Ingolstadt is called in when construction projects affect land with known or suspected archaeological remains, or when archaeological monuments such as historic settlements are being studied.

His team documents discoveries in the soil and professionally recovers movable objects so they can be preserved. Four years ago, however, looters targeted the Oppidum near Manching, a former Celtic settlement, while archaeologists were excavating there. The intruders used metal detectors, allegedly took numerous finds and left Bavaria’s largest archaeological monument covered in holes.

The raid destroyed not only the archaeologists’ work but also historical knowledge that the objects could have revealed. “Metal detectorists are a major threat to our excavation work,” Biedermann said.

Bavaria was long a popular destination for looters. Until three years ago, the state had relatively liberal rules under which a find was divided equally between the person who discovered it and the owner of the land. Andreas Büttner of the Bavarian State Office for Monument Protection said this made it easier to claim looted objects as private property. Many finds later disappeared onto the black market.

In 2023, Bavaria introduced the Schatzregal, a legal rule under which archaeological finds reported to the authorities automatically become the property of the state. The state does not profit from the finds because it compensates the owners of the locations where they were discovered. Finders receive the statutory finder’s fee of three percent of the value.

David Arnold of Nuremberg, who has been metal detecting for more than 25 years, rejects looting but opposes the Schatzregal. He wants finders to continue receiving half of a find and plans to launch a petition. In his view, the current ownership rules give detectorists little incentive to report discoveries honestly.

Arnold says authorities were already receiving few reports before the Schatzregal was introduced and blames what he considers official bias rather than the detectorists themselves. Büttner estimates that Bavaria has about 15,000 metal detectorists, ranging from casual hobbyists and amateur historians to hardliners who disregard the rules.