👑 Famous case · Dresden, 2019
The Green Vault heist (2019): what we know
In the night of November 25, 2019, a fire plunges the area around Dresden's palace into darkness. A few minutes later, two men climb through a window whose bars they have sawn through, smash a display case with an axe and make off with 18th-century jewels. Here is how this heist unfolded, as the sources tell it.
Less than five minutes
Around 4 a.m.: a small fire destroys an electrical box under the Augustus Bridge, right next to the palace. The streetlights and the museum alarm are cut, but the cameras keep working. According to the prosecution, the window grille had been cut during visits on the previous nights.
Two thieves enter the Jewel Room of the historic Green Vault, smash the display case (with an axe according to the police; the prosecution also mentions a hammer) and leave through the same window, putting the bars back in place to delay the discovery. At 4:56 a.m., the guards spot the theft; the first police car arrives about five minutes later, too late.
Twenty-one pieces, more than 4,300 diamonds
The loot includes pieces from three 18th-century jewelry sets, the hilt of a sword set with diamonds, an epaulette and the star of the Order of the White Eagle. In all, 21 pieces and more than 4,300 diamonds, insured for at least 113.8 million euros. The thieves flee toward Berlin in an Audi A6; an identical car is found burned out in an underground car park.
The guards were unarmed
The guards, who were unarmed, followed protocol and called the police. In March 2020, four of them were suspected of not reacting properly; none of them was convicted.
The trial
In November 2020, 18 sites are searched in Berlin and three suspects arrested, all from the same family. Six men are charged with organized gang theft and arson. In December 2022, after a deal with their lawyers, 31 pieces are returned to the museum. On May 16, 2023, five of them are convicted, with sentences of up to 6 years and 3 months in prison; the sixth, who had an alibi, is acquitted. The convicted: Wissam, Rabieh, Bashir, Mohamed and Abdul Majed Remmo, the last two tried under the law for young adults. The judgment became final in 2024.
The Green Vault reopened in August 2024, with most of the pieces back. A few are still missing. Two of the defendants were already serving time for stealing a 100 kg gold coin from Berlin's Bode Museum in 2017.
Your turn to reconstruct the heist
In Enquetix's famous case, you reconstruct the heist by pure deduction: who was in the gang, how it got in, how it cut the power and how it got away. The facts are documented 📚. The convicted go by their real names 📚; those whose identity was never established by a judgment have a made-up name 🔎.
🔎 Reconstruct the Green Vault heist The other famous cases
Sources: Wikipedia ("Dresden Green Vault burglary"); Berliner Zeitung; t-online; Tagesspiegel.