Minister Bruins (Education, Culture and Science) wants to prevent a gold medieval ring from being sold abroad. He has started the process to preserve the ring for the Netherlands, following a request to transport it for sale abroad. The minister decided that in principle, the object should not leave the Netherlands because the ring has irreplaceable historical value for our country. The ring has therefore been designated as a protected cultural asset in 2022. It is the first time a minister has initiated such a process with a designated cultural object.
Minister Bruins: "Protected cultural assets are bearers of our history and identity. They are an indispensable part of the collective memory of the Netherlands. I think it is important that the ring remains in the Netherlands so that future generations can also experience and understand their value."
It is a medieval gold ring, dated to the 9th/10th century, with a depiction of the Lamb of God surrounded by the four evangelists. The ring was found in 1997 in the Frisian town of Sumar by a metal detector amateur. Since 2022, the cultural property has been designated as protected and included in the register. The ring is here view.
Protected status
The Minister of OCW can designate privately owned cultural objects as protected cultural objects if they are in danger of leaving the Netherlands. This power is there to preserve objects of great importance to Dutch cultural history for the Netherlands. When making such a decision, he is advised by the Protected Cultural Property Committee. This committee judges whether the cultural object is irreplaceable and indispensable to the Dutch Cultural Heritage Collection and should therefore be preserved for the Netherlands.
Once the cultural object has been designated, it may not leave the Netherlands without permission from the minister. Because of the cultural-historical significance of this cultural object for the Netherlands Collection, the minister did not give this permission in this case. The minister's powers follow from the Heritage Act.
Follow-up process
Potential, interested buyers in the Netherlands now have six weeks to purchase the jewellery and thus keep it within our borders. No buyer reports? Then after that, the minister's decision can be seen as an offer by the state to buy the ring. If this happens, the ring will become part of the national collection and a place will be sought to make it accessible to the public.
