Friday, 29th February 2008 (2625 views)

A dig for stolen Nazi gold and the fabled Amber Room of St Petersburg has been halted after an apparent falling out between the men leading the project, according to reports.

CNN says the dig in Germany's Ore Mountains was halted after Christian Hanisch, whose measurements have supposedly pinpointed a haul of looted gold buried in an underground chamber, said he had been told to "get out of here" by his treasure hunting partner, Heinz-Peter Haustein.

Mr Haustein, who is the mayor of nearby Deutschneudorf and the man financing the excavation, reportedly told German newspaper Bild that he stopped the work so that geophysicists could evaluate the site.

Mr Haustein is believed to have claimed that the legendary Amber Room is buried there. The Amber Room is a set of amber and gold panels dating from the 1700s that disappeared after the Nazis looted them from Leningrad (now St Petersburg) during World War II.

According to CNN, however, Mr Hanisch said he "never" believed the Amber Room theory. He said he was given the co-ordinates for the site by his father, who had been one of the soldiers responsible for burying gold - but not amber panels - near Deutschneudorf at the end of the war.

The news service says Mr Haustein believes work will be halted for two weeks.

 

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