The Forged Fortune of Lake Toplitz
At the end of the war, Nazi officers were seen sinking crates into a deep Alpine lake. Divers later found millions in forged British pounds.
What was reported
Lake Toplitz is a narrow, deep lake hidden in forest in the Austrian Alps, about 100 metres deep. In the last days of the Second World War, witnesses said, SS men sank heavy crates in it, and rumours spread of hidden gold and secret documents.
In 1959 an expedition funded by the German magazine Stern recovered crates of counterfeit British banknotes from the lake bed. They had been made by prisoners in a Nazi forgery scheme, Operation Bernhard, meant to wreck Britain's economy.
Explanations offered
Later dives, including a large expedition in 2000, found more forged notes and wartime debris, but no gold. The lake's depth, cold water and a thick layer of sunken logs make searching dangerous, and diving there now needs special permission. The hope of hidden treasure persists.
- When
- Searched since 1946
- Where
- Lake Toplitz, Styria, Austria
- Witnesses
- Divers and investigators
- Status
- Partly explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.