“My attempts to wait for the Muses to kiss me have always failed. I think they prefer to kiss those whose brows are damp with the sweat of ardent effort than those who idly await their arrival.” Elisabeth Treskow.
In the spring and summer of 2025, the Cologne Cathedral Treasury Library hosted an exhibition dedicated to the outstanding Cologne master jeweler Elisabeth Treskow (1898-1992), who is considered one of the first German women to achieve recognition in a previously male-dominated field of craftsmanship. The location of the exhibition was not chosen by chance. After Elisabeth Treskow was appointed head of the goldsmith and silversmith class at the Cologne College in 1948, she was increasingly approached with orders for the production and maintenance of ecclesiastical art.
In particular, she was engaged in the restoration of the Tomb of the Three Magi, a reliquary which, according to legend, contains the remains of the three biblical Magi (or three kings). This masterpiece was made by medieval craftsmen in the late 12th – early 13th centuries after the relics of the Magi were taken from Milan, devastated by the troops of Frederick Barbarossa, and transferred to the Cologne Cathedral, where they have been kept for 850 years.
These important restoration works of historical works of art were entrusted to Elisabeth Treskow as a recognized master, whose experience is confirmed by numerous awards received at international exhibitions. But let’s go back to the beginning of Elisabeth’s creative path.
She began her first steps in the art of jewelry in 1914 in Hagen under the guidance of the Dutch silversmith Frans Zwollo (1872-1945). In 1915, Elisabeth Treskow attended a metalworking class in Essen and studied painting. She then studied for two years at the Royal Technical University of Precious Metals in Schwäbisch Gmünd and took lessons from the famous jeweler Karl Rothmüller in Munich.
Driven by her interest in ancient art and literature, she focused her efforts on studying Etruscan jewelry and discovered the granulation technique used by the Etruscans. The special feature of this technique is that small gold beads, some of which are the size of dust, are soldered to a metal base without fusing with it.
In 1937, Elisabeth was awarded a gold medal for her work at the World Exhibition in Paris. And the following year, the German Society of Jewellers awarded her the Honorary Golden Ring, making her the first woman to receive such an award.
One of Elisabeth Treskow’s most famous works is certainly the “Championship Cup”, an award from the German Football Association, which is presented to the club that wins the national championship. Elisabeth created it together with her students from the Cologne School of Masters in 1949.
Football championships in Germany have been held since 1903. And then the winner was awarded a trophy in the form of a statue of the winged goddess of victory by Christian Rauch. After the Second World War, the statuette disappeared, it seemed, forever. That’s when the decision was made to create a new version of the championship trophy.
The bowl, nicknamed by wits because of its shape “salad bowl”, was created using 5.5 kilograms of silver and decorated with five large and eleven small tourmalines. The trophy is engraved with the names of all the German champion clubs since 1903. In 1981, the dish became too small for new engravings, so another silver element was added to its bottom, attached to the original with silver screws. In 2009, another modernization was carried out – five engraving plates were replaced with new, larger ones. Now there should be enough space for champions until 2027. The total weight of the bowl is now about 11 kilograms with a diameter of 59 centimeters.
In conclusion of the story, it is worth saying that the statuette of the goddess of victory was still found in the nineties of the last century after the reunification of Germany. It is believed that it was in East Germany all these years. But there are other versions.
Elisabeth Treskow lived a long and fruitful life. In her last years, she lived in a nursing home in the city of Bruhl, near Cologne. In 2006, one of the squares in Cologne was named after her.
