It wasn’t just the people of Saxony who couldn’t believe their ears on November 25 last year when they heard the news of the jewel robbery in the “Green Vault” of their palace. But everyone quickly realized that it was the bitter truth. In fact, unknown people had stolen priceless gems, diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and historical jewelry in the early hours of the morning. “It can only be the work of professionals,” the investigators agreed shortly after the crime scene. Everything points to targeted preparation and professional execution of the crime.
What has happened?
At 4.59 a.m., the security service, staffed by two guards, reported an intrusion into the green vault of the Dresden Residenzschloss. According to the first findings of the police, the perpetrators severed a window grille, smashed the window, and used an ax to destroy the showcases in which the art treasures were displayed. Video recordings show two suspects in the jewel room. The brazen coup lasted only a few minutes and ended with the flight in an Audi A6.
The fire at a nearby electrical distributor, which could be responsible for the power failure in the green vault and the immediate vicinity of the crime scene, was carefully assigned to the thief by the investigators. Despite a power failure, the video camera continues to record in the Green Vault. At the same time, a burnt-out car is discovered in an underground car park. Could this be the jewel thief’s getaway car? The Dresden public prosecutor and the special commission “Epaulette” are responsible for the investigation. The Saxony police set a reward of half a million euros for the arrest of the perpetrators and the return of the loot from what was probably the greatest art robbery in post-war history.
1,254 clues, curiosities and no investigation success
As early as November 29, four days after the robbery, the police received 342 reports from the population. Three weeks later, a “strange offer” from an anonymous art patron surprised to pay the perpetrators 1.3 million euros for the loot in order to prevent the theft of the stolen goods, as reported by a private investigator. The jewel robbery experienced another curious development on January 2, 2020 through a statement by the Israeli security company CGI. Her research revealed that a museum employee had passed on security-related insider knowledge to the perpetrators. Prosecutors and police did not want to comment on this, as is common in ongoing investigations.
A “prank offer” came from the Internet, in which a user claimed to return the Polish White Eagle Order and the Saxon White Brilliant for 9 million euros, payable in the cryptocurrency “Bitcoin”. The prosecutor kept information covered. With the usual standardized reference to an ongoing procedure, the end of which does not yet appear to be in sight.
An invaluable damage
The material value of the stolen art treasures is nowhere near as high as the cultural value. Are these almost 100 pieces jewelery sets, so-called sets ”from the 18th century, but inextricably linked to the history of Saxony and Germany.
References
https://www.merkur.de/welt/dresden-gruenes-gewoelbe-diebstahl-juwelen-raub-einbruch-video-millionen-insider-mitarbeiter-hilfe-zr-13245957.html
https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/justiz/dresden-was-ueber-den-einbruch-ins-gruene-gewoelbe-bekannt-ist-a-1298158.html
born 1991 in Münster, Germany, is an editor at Euro Leaders. As a trainee at a media group, she gained her first journalistic experience and further expanded it in the course of her career as a freelancer for various online media and the daily press. Jacobs studied Cultural Studies with a focus on European Cultures and Society in Northern Germany. She lives with her partner and the dogs Chester and Baki in the eastern Ruhr area.