Five years after a $124-million museum heist shocked the world, recovered jewels returned home
In November 2019, thieves stole pieces that contained more than 4,300 diamonds with an estimated value of over 113 million euros ($124 million), from the Gruenes Gewoelbe (Green Vault) museum in Dresden, in the eastern German state of Saxony.
Police have said most of the jewels stolen from the museum, which houses one of Europe’s greatest art collections, have been recovered. Pieces still missing include an epaulette on which a precious stone known as the Dresden White Diamond was mounted.
Starting this week, the jewelry pieces will be back on display in their original spots — albeit in the same condition in which they were recovered in December 2022 as they are part of ongoing legal proceedings and still considered court property.
“There are certain things that perhaps absolute experts can see; we with the naked eye can actually barely see the damage,” said Marion Ackermann, Dresden State Museums director general.
“And this damage is mainly due to the fact that they were either broken out during the crime... or improperly stored by the perpetrators after the crime,” Ackermann added.
Five men, all members of the same family, were sentenced to several years behind bars in May 2023 for their involvement.
The heist was a bitter lesson about security at the museum, which before had been considered one of the safest buildings in Europe, said Saxony premier Michael Kretschmer.
“We were shocked that it was actually possible, but we have drawn the necessary conclusions,” he said on Tuesday.
The stolen Dresden collection was assembled in the 18th century by Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony and later King of Poland, who commissioned ever more brilliant jewelry as part of his rivalry with France’s King Louis XIV.
The treasures survived Allied bombing raids in World War II, only to be carted off as war booty by the Soviet Union.
They were returned to Dresden, the historic capital of the state of Saxony, in 1958.
Despite the recent recovery of most of the stolen jewels, the epaulette with the Dresden White Diamond, a symbol of luxury and style, remains missing from the Gruenes Gewoelbe museum. Due to the damage sustained during the theft or improper storage, the remaining pieces will be presented with visible flaws, offering a stark contrast to their original grandeur and exquisite style.
