Objekt 23
Pocket watch
Description
According to the engraving "Franz v. Reichstadt", this watch belonged to the Duke of Reichstadt, the son of Napoleon Bonaparte, who died of tuberculosis in Vienna at the age of 21. After that, according to tradition, the clock was owned by a Croatian noble family. A male descendant of this family carried the watch as a talisman during the 20th World War. When the Croatian officer was captured by the Germans near Klagenfurt at the end of the war and sentenced to death, he traded the watch for food with a gentleman living nearby. The latter later sold it to Switzerland.
Object description
early 19th century
Gold, enamel, glass
Deposit collection Emanuel G. Sarasin, Basel
Inv. 1982.638.