In Tatoi , the royal emblems of King Otto of Greece , the crown, the scepter and the sword , were found, in very good condition , well preserved and carefully packed.
The royal emblems were found, during the work of documenting the cultural goods and movable objects by officials of the competent services of the Ministry of Culture .
Othon, prince of Bavaria, of the house of Wittelsbach, reigned in Greece with the title of King of Greece, from 1832 to 1862. The crown and scepter were made by the famous Parisian goldsmith house Fossin et Fils, while the sword Fossin collaborated with swordsmith Jules Manceaux, of the eponymous gunsmith house.
Their construction was commissioned by Louis of Bavaria , Otto's father, in 1835, to be given to the young king upon his coronation, which would take place, the same year, upon his coming of age. However, the ship that carried them did not arrive in Greece in time and the coronation took place without them.
When Otto left Greece in 1862, he took the emblems of the throne with him, as he never accepted his eviction nor did he abdicate. Thus, the first emblems of the Greek state were since 1862 in the possession of the royal house of Bavaria.
The objects, made of gold and metal alloys , are characterized by the high art of their makers. They are rather simple, bearing no precious stones (except for lapis lazuli on the hilt of the sword), but the symbolism of their decorative elements is significant. They are the starting point for the tradition of shaping state symbols that would follow for the next two centuries, despite the change in dynasty and polity.
The last time the three emblems were displayed together was in December 1959,at the ceremony of their delivery by the House of Wittelsbach to the then King of the Greeks Paul. After diplomatic negotiations, the head of the House of Wittelsbach, Albert, offered the emblems of the throne back to Greece.
The ceremony of their delivery took place in the Palace of Athens (now the Presidential Palace), in December 1959, in the presence of Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis and members of the cabinet. The date was chosen to coincide with the anniversary of Otto's arrival in Athens, in 1834, and the proclamation of the city as the capital of the new Greek kingdom. Albert's son Maximilianos-Emmanuel presented the royal couple with the first emblems of the Greek throne, on a symbolic day for the state and its capital.
