US returns valuable stolen books to Swiss library

Sebastian Brant's lost Ship of Fools has been returned to the Fribourg Cantonal and University Library. The book was printed in Basel. Kantons- und Universitätsbibliothek KUB

In the 1970s an art thief posed as a Vatican official and stole valuable books from a Swiss library. Some of the works have recently resurfaced in the United States and have been returned to the library shelves where they belong.

The De memoria augenda, a medical book about the brain, and Ship of Fools, by the German humanist and theologian Sebastian Brant – both over 500 years old – are now back in the Fribourg Cantonal and University Library.

Brant’s book in particular is “an extraordinary work”, the library’s Silvia Zehnder-Jörg told Swiss public television, SRF. “Ship of Fools is a pre-Reformation literature bestseller. It’s a late medieval satirical allegory – a real highlight,” she added. The value of the book, written in 1494, is estimated at CHF500,000 ($532,000).

The stolen items were located thanks to the meticulous work by the authorities and researchers Kantons- und Universitätsbibliothek KUB / Maïna Photographie

Art heist

“The heritage value of these books is particularly significant,” said Zehnder-Jörg. The books were originally part of the Franciscan library in Fribourg. But during the 20^th century, 21 of the collection’s valuable books disappeared.

A German art thief who pretended to be a Vatican expert arrived at the monastery sometime in the 1970s and explained to the monks that he had come to inspect their art collection. They believed his story and allowed him to “work” undisturbed in the library. The thief took several books and valuable manuscripts, but the theft was only noticed 20 years ago.

This discovery marked the beginning of a long and arduous search for clues. “It’s like a police search. All the library portals and antiquarian book sales had to be monitored to find anything that seemed suspicious or could be identified as the missing items,” explained Zehnder-Jörg.

Swiss embassy involved

In the end, the books were found in the US. But proof was needed that they were the same books that had been stolen in Fribourg. This is where the Swiss embassy in Washington came in. It reached out to the US authorities and had the books examined more closely.

Engravings introduce chapters in Ship of Fools. This attention to detail also makes the work so valuable. Kantons- und Universitätsbibliothek KUB / Maïna Photographie

Books and manuscripts from this period in history were always differently sized and this was a big help. “We could clearly identify the books once we measured them,” said Jacques Pitteloud, the Swiss ambassador to the US.

Zehnder-Jörg is pleased that the works are now back in their original collections. “It feels like an early Christmas present,” she said.

An extraordinary case

Over the past few years efforts have been stepped up to return cultural heritage around the world. But Ambassador Pitteloud says this was a special case.

“It’s usually the rich countries that are involved in these types of art thefts, But here Switzerland was the victim,” he said.

Meanwhile, the search for manuscripts and books stolen from the Franciscan monastery in Fribourg continues. Of the 21 that are missing, only six have been returned so far.

Translated from German by Billi Bierling/ilj