Bernhard Severin Ingemann (1789-1862). The horn presented to him as Denmark's national poet on his 70th birthday has been found again.

Most people thought it had been melted down and lost forever, but a golden horn presented to one of Denmark’s leading psalm writers B.S. Ingemann has now been found again.

The horn was stolen from the Natural History Museum at Frederiksborg Castle in 1970 and although the thief was caught he never disclosed where the horn had gone.

“What a wonderful surprise this has been. We thought the horn had been melted down as the thief refused to say what had been done with it,” Museum Director Mette Skougaard tells Frederiksborg Amts Avis (FAA).

Skougaard travelled to the Netherlands last week to view the horn, which had been put up for auction.

“There’s no doubt. There’s only one of these and it is quite unique. It was made for Ingemann.... and it even says it’s his on the horn. We were delighted that it has been found again as it’s an important part of our cultural heritage,” Skougaard tells FAA.

The museum has informed the horn’s current owner in Germany that it has laid claim to the piece.

Bernhard Severin Ingemann was a prolific Danish author and producer of psalm texts, was born in 1789 and died in 1862. The horn was presented to him on his 70th birthday in 1859 when he was proclaimed Denmark’s national poet.