In Germany, restorers of a famous church found an incredibly rich treasure that had been hidden in the foot of one of the statues for 400 years, LiveScience writes..

The treasure found consisted of four bags of 17th-century coins that were hidden during the Thirteen Years' War. At that time, Swedish soldiers often plundered the region.

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“It’s just an incredible story,” says curator and head of department at the State Coinage Office of Saxony-Anhalt in Germany, Ulf Dreger.

Restorers found a 400-year-old treasure in the Church of St.. Andrew - Gothic church in Eisleben-Lutherstadt. It was in this church that Protestant reformer Martin Luther, who wrote the 95 Theses against corruption in the Roman Catholic Church, preached his last four sermons in 1546.

Scientists believe that around 1640 someone decided to hide money in the church. This man hid four bags containing 816 coins in a cavity that was located in the foot of one of the statues. The sculpture is part of the epitaph for the countess and count, adds Dreger.

" At the moment I can only say that this is a huge fortune. Much more than a craftsman could earn in a year,” says Dreger.

The most valuable gold coins were wrapped in paper and marked with a sign indicating that the money belonged to the church.

“But these were not charitable donations, but income from special services of pastors: weddings, baptisms and funerals. Churches also collected "

A gold coin known as the " Also found were silver coins known as thalers, half-talers and quarter-talers and hundreds of pennies..

Researchers believe that the treasure was hidden during the Thirteen Years' War (1618–1648). During this series of wars, Swedish soldiers plundered Saxony-Anhalt, including Eisleben, sometimes on a weekly basis. Also, the local population was forced to house and feed Swedish troops and pay them huge sums of money.

“Eisleben lost about half of its population between 1628 and 1650,” the expert notes.

To put the size of the treasure in context, scientists say local 17th-century miners earned about 1 thaler, or 24 pennies, every week.. Also 0.45 kg of butter cost about 3 pence, and two herrings cost 2 pence. The treasure, in addition to gold and silver coins, contains about 800 pennies.

Historians say that since 1561 a general parish fund was founded in Eisleben, which was a kind of pension and medical fund for pastors and theologians. Perhaps this is what the restorers found in the church.

We would like to remind you that a treasure worth half a million zlotys was found in Poland.. Polish search engines have discovered a treasure of coins, which has already been recognized as one of the most important archaeological finds in the country.. It was recently sold at auction, where it was valued at half a million zlotys.