An emperor gave Nuremberg the crown jewels "for permanent custody" in 1423; Vienna took them in 1800, Hitler took them back, and an American found them walled in a bunker

The regalia of the Holy Roman Empire include the imperial crown, orb, sceptre, swords and a lance that tradition identifies as the Holy Lance. On 29 September 1423 Emperor Sigismund granted the Free City of Nuremberg permanent custody of them. They arrived in 1424 and were kept in the Holy Spirit Hospital. For each coronation the city council sent them to Aachen or Frankfurt under escort. In 1796 French armies advanced, and Nuremberg's officials moved them to Regensburg. In 1800 they were placed in the imperial treasury in Vienna. The empire was dissolved in 1806, and they stayed there. After the Anschluss in 1938 Hitler had them brought back to Nuremberg and shown in St Catherine's Church. During the war they were stored in bunkers under the castle. On 20 July 1945 the US Army sent Lieutenant Walter Horn, an art historian, to find pieces that were missing. He interrogated Dr Friese, assistant to the mayor, and on 7 August 1945 recovered them from a hidden room in an underground bunker. The Monuments Men Foundation says the mayor hid them as a rallying symbol for future Nazi resistance. In early 1946 the Americans handed the regalia to Austria. They have been shown in the Imperial Treasury in the Hofburg, Vienna, since 1954.