What lies beneath the "Devil's Dustbin" ??

It's said some of Austria's most picturesque lakes hold dark secrets - Nazi artifacts.

SALZKAMMERGUT, AUSTRIA — The Salzkammergut area of approximately 70 lakes was the site of some top-secret Nazi projects: a naval station on Lake Toplitz that tested prototype miniature submarines and underwater rockets; a plot to destroy the British economy by flooding the market with counterfeit bank notes; and a planned "Fourth Reich" after the Nazis presumed victory against the Allies.

By February, 1945, the German war machine was in a tailspin and retreating fast and the Salzkammergut was one of its final holdouts. In the last days of the war, under the cover of darkness, crate after crate of secret cargo was dumped into the lakes, many of which are deep, with tree-covered mud bottoms. It was the perfect hiding place. Much has been recovered over the years, including thousands of counterfeit bank notes and the equipment used to make them, but much still remains. Stolen art, sealed Swiss bank accounts and millions in gold bullion are rumored to be hidden in the lakes. The area has come to be known as the "Devil's Dustbin."

Later this year, a major search of Lake Toplitz will be conducted by Florida-based Global Explorations (I can't find a damn thing on them on the 'net - the editor) , which has a three-year permit from the Austrian government to explore the 103-metre-deep mountain lake. Norman Scott, who is heading up the search, is confident that he will find what others have missed. "We know there's $134-million in gold bullion down there," he says. His team will use technology not available to other searchers including 3-D sonar, magnetometers and sub-bottom profilers.

most divers come out with hand blown glass bottles

Local divers here make it a point not to log dives so as to keep secret from the authorities the locations of all the guns they have found - often with a hearty laugh.

Gerhard, local dive shop owner

Gerhaurd had several run-ins with the authorities. When he was a young man in the 1970s, he and some buddies pulled up an anti-aircraft gun and ammunition from Lake Atter, took it out to the woods and fired off a few shells, narrowly missing the town church.

Though locals doubt the stories of looted Nazi treasure, small finds are common. Trade in Nazi artifacts is strictly prohibited in Austria and most people here would like to forget about the period forever. The thought of divers ambling out of the water carrying a bust of Hitler or a dripping SS dagger in front of a busload of camera-clicking tourists has caused conniptions for the local tourism board. "They are going mad because there's so many divers going after this stuff," Gerhard says. Diving has been banned in front of Hallstatt town, Lake Toplitz and other high tourist areas.

Finding the best places requires planning, local knowledge and a bit of luck. "The trick is to look for old buildings," Thiele says. He adds that if you know where there was a high-ranking officer's house, it's also a good starting point. But the most interesting stuff will always be buried. "If you want to find something, you have to look in the mud," he says. The mud contains no oxygen and buried artifacts are often perfectly preserved. A Luger pistol found by a member of our group was rust-free and in perfect working order. The trick is to stick your arms in and work by feel. It's difficult diving and you often come up sweating and exhausted despite the frigid water.

The area is believed to be one of the first places of human settlement, dating from the late Bronze Age, 1200 BC. The region has been named a UNESCO World Heritage site and is a place of exquisite beauty. Many of the top Nazi officers - Eichmann, von Ribbentrop, Goebbels and Hitler himself - had palatial waterfront homes on the lakes here.

To some, far more interesting are the Celtic artifacts that can be found in the lakes. However, bronze axes, arrowheads, coins and pieces of pottery are much more difficult to find - and dangerous. One ledge, 40m down, is strewn in bazooka shells and launchers. Large-calibre machine-gun bullets litter the site. It looks like an underwater garbage dump. There's no need to dig here; everything rests on the bottom. The ammunition is still live so - don't touch the larger shells.

Further research revealed the grand prize may not be gold at all - but ancient pine resin.

The fabulous Amber Room contained six tons of the precious resin and took 10 years for some of Europe's top craftsmen to complete.

IT WAS the most opulent of Tsar Peter the Great's rooms, brought to his new capital of St Petersburg on 18 horse-drawn wagons in 1716, a present from the King of Prussia.

only known color photograph of the original room

But more than 60 years ago it was plundered by Nazis as they stormed across Europe, never to be seen again.
Now, after years of searching, a team of treasure hunters believe it is at the bottom of an Austrian lake.
A group of American divers will today begin a 7 million pounds project searching the 338ft-deep Lake Toplitz situated in the heart of Austria.

Norman Scott, the founder of Global Explorations, and his team plan to use small machines and unmanned submarines, which will allow explorers to spend more time underwater, as well as limit any potential harm to the lake.

Scott says the team was initially looking for Nazi gold but discovered evidence that the Amber Room was in the lake. He has a local witness - whom he will not name - who he says specifically counted 27 crates going to the waters of the lake in April 1945, one month before the capitulation of Nazi Germany.

Paperwork from the RHSA - the Reich Main Security Office of the SS in wartime - shows that the Amber Room was packed into precisely 27 crates before it was taken away by the Germans. The team also say the Cyrillic lettering on the remains of a wooden crate, bearing the words 'fragile' and numbered could mean it once contained a piece of the Amber Room jigsaw.

The Amber Room was an opulent baroque masterpiece presented by Frederick William I, the "Soldier King" of Prussia, to Peter the Great in 1716 as part of a move to cement a military alliance against the Swedes. The 16-foot jigsaw-puzzle style panels were constructed of more than 100,000 perfectly fitted pieces of amber, first situated in the Tsar's Winter Palace in St Petersburg
In 1979 a reconstruction effort began at Tsarkoe Selo, based largely on black and white photographs of the original Amber Room before the Nazis dismantled it.

close up of wall (new)

The work was completed in 2003 and the restored room was opened by Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder at the 300-year anniversary of St Petersburg.

Ok, last piece of this mystery - freshly cut and pasted from their website:

Secret Nazi Chamber found!
the content: The Amber Room and other art treasures and valuables

Searching For Lost Art! --- The Last Secrets Of World War II.

After 18 years of research, the Amber Room Organization has located the hiding place of the Amber Room and is now looking for TV-Producers, News Magazines, Journalists or similar who like to form a partnership for marketing the story and for the recovery of the Amber Room.

This story will be a sensation!

found@amberroom.org

ALLAN HALL