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Dresden: What is known about the invasion of the Green Vault

2019-11-25T19:11:10.241Z


There is horror throughout the world about the theft in Dresden's Residenzschloss. Unknown offenders captured priceless jewels. A surveillance video shows what happened in the Green Vault.



It is only five o'clock in the morning, when one of the most spectacular art thefts of recent decades takes place in Dresden. Burglars gain access to the Grünes Gewölbe, the famous treasury in the Residenzschloss of the Saxon capital. A little later it is clear: the damage is immense.

Diamonds, diamonds, rubies, emeralds - a huge treasure was stolen. The case is making international headlines.

What happened?

According to police, several perpetrators invaded the Green Vault in Dresden's Residenzschloss early Monday morning. The break-in had been reported by a security service at 4.59 clock.

As Chief Constable Volker Lange reported at a press conference, the perpetrators came through a window, severed a grid and hit a glass pane before they ran purposefully to a showcase in the so-called jewel room. Later, it was said in a police report that the perpetrators had destroyed the display case with an ax. The act took only a few minutes.

Surveillance cameras filmed the act, the police released footage on YouTube:

According to police, the perpetrators fled with an Audi A6. An identical vehicle was later set about five kilometers away in an underground car park on fire. The car had been secured by police and is being investigated.

Possibly the perpetrators cut off the power supply to the Green Vault before the burglary by lighting a power box under a bridge. A spokeswoman for the utility Drewag confirmed the fire and put the box out of action. The police assume a direct connection to art theft. The street lighting in the vicinity of the crime scene fell out due to the fire.

What did the thieves steal?

Hundreds of items from the jewelery sets of Frederick August II may be affected. The ensembles of buttons, buckles, medals, underarm bows and stick buttons are set with diamonds, diamonds, rubies, emeralds or sapphires. It was "a treasury of the 18th century," said the Director General of State Art Collections, Marion Ackermann. The exact number of stolen objects is unclear.

Matthias Hiekel / DPA

The jewels were apparently stolen from this walk-in vault

Saxony's Elector Augustus the Strong (1670-1733) had the Treasury set up between 1723 and 1730. Today it is presented in two sections. The historical part is located on the ground floor of the Royal Palace in the authentically restored rooms of the collection. On the first floor, the New Green Vault shows special individual pieces.

What are the stolen items worth?

According to General Manager Ackermann, the value of the stolen goods can not be quantified. The special meaning lies less in the material than in the completeness of the ensemble. She hopes that the stolen property is deprived of the art market due to its "international prominence".

Are the stolen treasures insured?

Cultural assets from public museums are in principle not insured, but damages are covered by so-called state liability. For public museums, the state liability is attractive because they do not have to pay insurance premiums.

What is known about the perpetrators?

Investigators assume that they are several perpetrators. Two burglars had been seen over the cameras in the Green Vault, it said in a message from the police. However, assume other participants. A ten-member special commission called "Epaulette" searches for the perpetrators.

How is the collection secured in Dresden's Residenzschloss?

The security center in the house is always staffed with two guards, said Ackermann. These had observed the intruders on their monitors in real time and then dialed the emergency call. However, when the police arrived at the scene, the thieves had already disappeared.

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Theft in Dresden: "Treasury of the 18th century"

What could the culprits do with the loot?

One must distinguish two types of art thieves, said the Dutch art detective Arthur Brand in the SPIEGEL interview. First, there are offenders who are convinced to find one or more buyers for the stolen goods. However, this was a fallacy, because the exhibits are too familiar and therefore quickly recognizable. "As soon as the thieves notice that they can not find a buyer, they look for alternatives, for example, they then extort the insurance," says Brand. These thieves are comparatively easy to convict.

"Much worse are really professional robbers who melt the gold and the silver or work out the diamonds and sell separately," said Brand. These perpetrators are well aware that most works of art as a whole are not for sale, but can be broken down into their components to make money. But what was once melted down or disassembled remains gone forever. "Therefore, one can only hope that in the case of the Green Vault are thieves who make sales attempts and go to the police so on the net."

How does politics react to art theft?

Saxony's head of government was appalled. "Not only the state art collections were robbed, but we Saxons," said Michael Kretschmer (CDU). "The values ​​that can be found in the Grünes Gewölbe and the Residenzschloss have been hard-won by the people of the Free State of Saxony for many centuries." One can not understand the history of the state without the Green Vault and the State Art Collections of Saxony. "

Culture Minister Monika Grütters described the slump as shocking and shocking. The theft of "pieces that make up our identity as a cultural nation, hits us in the heart," said the CDU politician. You thank the person responsible for the establishment of a special commission and hope for a quick search success.

"In the face of a high-crime perpetrator organized in a disciplined manner, even greater protection of our museums and cultural institutions is a top priority," said Grütters. "We have recently tightened the security measures at our homes in various places." The protection of the cultural treasures must be worth every effort.

Source: spiegel

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