Tradition has it that Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great, who resided in Trier in the early 4th century, gave the church some of its most valuable relics.

[2] The treasure was moved to a larger room in 1480 in the so-called Badische Bau, part of the cloisters, where the treasury and the cathedral's archives are still housed.

[3] Inventories dating from 1238, 1429 and 1776 provide detailed information on the history of the treasure, which for centuries remained largely intact, in spite of fires, sieges and pillaging.

One of the many treasures that went missing was the so-called "monile of Saint Helena", a golden hanger with a relic of the True Cross, listed in the 1238 inventory.

[7] At the end of the Second World War the main treasures from Trier, along with those from Aachen and Essen, were hidden in a deserted mine tunnel near Siegen.

[8] The Trier Cathedral treasure consists mainly of reliquaries, liturgical vessels, religious statues and reliefs, ivories and illuminated manuscripts.

[9] The following are kept in the Treasury: During its long history the cathedral collected numerous liturgical vessels, candlesticks, processional crosses and other objects used in mass or for administering the Holy Sacraments.