Gold rush follows Nazi grail

The gold urn, decorated with Celtic figures and worth 70,000, is believed to be part of a lost haul of Nazi loot worth more than 1.5bn.

The spectacular find has triggered a gold rush in the region, whose lakes are rumoured to be littered with gold booty dumped by German forces as they faced defeat by the Allies in the Second World War.

Divers recovered the 22lb vessel in the depths of the Chiemsee lake, near Munich. It had been abandoned by members of the feared SS to prevent it getting into enemy hands.

Scientists who have examined the urn say it was made around 1940 and depicts Celtic mythology, with which many of the Nazi hierarchy were obsessed. The chalice is understood to have belonged to a Nazi gauleiter, a provincial governor. Experts say it was probably part of a much larger haul tipped into the lake.

In the wake of the discovery, hotels and guest houses in the Alps are reporting a boom in diving groups and amateur treasure hunters prepared to take their chances in the cold, dark waters in the hunt for wealth.

But a Bavarian interior ministry official has warned: "The lakes are dangerous and several people have died over the years. We advise against foolhardiness especially as we have reports of more and more weekend expeditions taking place since this chalice was discovered."

Paul Hoffman, who has organised dives in the Alpine lakes for the past 20 years, said: "The Bavarian authorities are quite right to be concerned about amateurs putting themselves and others at risk: these lakes are dangerous, cold and dark. There have been numerous deaths over the years."

Bavaria was intended to become the last redoubt of Third Reich forces, ordered by Hitler to hide in the mountains for years conducting a campaign of guerrilla warfare against the Allies.

But the armies melted away under the crushing superiority of the enemy. That included the SS, who held trainloads of loot stolen from churches, banks, stately homes, museums and castles from around Europe.

Much of it was gold and diamonds seized from Jews before they were exterminated. Piles of gold from the dentures of Holocaust victims were melted down and much of that is rumoured to lie at the bottom of the cold, black lakes of Bavaria and neighbouring Austria.

Commenting on the lost Nazi haul, Heinrich Deiselmann, an expert on the Nazi era and chronicler of the hunt for treasure in the Alpine lakes, said: "The SS poured into this region with their wagon-loads of loot because Hitler told them that this was where the last stand would be made. For men with unspeakable crimes on their conscience this was to be their insurance policy."

The lakes have been a magnet for many adventurers over the years. The upper Bavarian Walchensee is said to contain 200m in gold bars. In the Seetalsee across the border in Austria a further 500m in ingots is said to repose in a watery grave. Chalices, diamonds and gold looted from homes and churches in France and Italy are also said to lie in the neighbouring Grundlsee.

But most famous is Lake Toplitz, the most alluring and sinister site of them all. In 1945 it was practically as remote as the moon. And with secrets to keep, that was just what the Nazis were looking for.

Toplitz is a byword for everything dangerous in Alpine lakes. After 30ft there is no light, and below 100ft, the water is almost freezing. At 348ft, the bottom comes into view. There is no life at the bottom of the lake because there is not enough oxygen to sustain it.

Many expeditions have scoured the Austrian lake for the Nazi treasure worth nearly 1bn said to lie in its depths.

American explorers spent 16m putting a mini-submarine into the Toplitz waters in 2000 but only recovered packing cases that had belonged to the German army, the Wehrmacht.

Another exploration of Toplitz, using sonar and submersibles, is scheduled for next year, but Hoffman said he would not be searching the lake again. "That place is just too dark, too eerie. And besides, I think it’s been searched out."