The lost lurs

Lurs are very rare objects. 39 lurs have been found in Denmark, but not all of them have ended up in museums. A pair of lurs found on Lyø around 1805 had a sad fate. They were melted down for buttons. Another pair of lurs was found at Årslev on Funen. This was written about in the newspaper Fynske Avertissements Tidende of 25th November 1803. We do not know what happened to them, however. A piece of one of the lurs from Årslev ended up in the British Museum in London. Two lurs from Blidstrup in northern Zealand also had a harsh fate. This very well-preserved pair was given to King Frederik VII. After that they were kept in the collection of antiquities at Frederiksborg Palace, which burnt down in 1859. The lurs were badly damaged, but fragments of one of them could later be assembled. Afterwards they were passed on to Napoleon III and today they are exhibited in a French museum. The sixth lur from Brudevælte also had a varied life. In 1843 it was presented to the Russian Tsar by King Christian VIII. It survived both revolution and war. Today it can be found in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.