Jewels stolen during a brazen 2019 heist are back on display in Germany
Jewels at the heart of a multimillion-dollar heist in 2019 — and recovered a few years later — are back on display at the German museum they were stolen from.
The Grüne Gewölbe, or Green Vault, in Dresden, Germany, announced this week that the exhibition of historical gems and other relics is reopening to the public in "almost all its glory."
Marion Ackermann, director general of the Dresden State Art Collections, said in a statement translated from German that the regional court system had allowed the recovered items to be sent back to the museum for display.
"The jewels are presented exactly as they were returned to the [Dresden State Art Collections] — with damage that is barely visible, although in need of restoration," Ackermann said.
Saxony Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer called it a "good day" for the German state in the eastern part of the country bordering Poland and the Czech Republic.
"In 2019, criminal clans from Berlin took possession of our cultural heritage," Kretschmer said in German in a post on X. "But we fought for our treasure!"
Located in Dresden's Royal Palace, the Green Vault began as a project to house precious metals, ornate art and other objects amassed by August the Strong, the Saxon elector who would later become the king of Poland, between 1723 and 1729.
The brazen heist five years ago shocked the German public and ignited a massive hunt for the $123 million in pilfered jewels and artifacts — as well as those responsible for snatching them during the nighttime break-in.
Authorities said at the time that surveillance video showed two thieves entering the museum's Jewel Room and smashing display cases with what appeared to be a hatchet or small ax.
The suspects made off with an array of historical valuables, including a breast star of the Polish Order of the White Eagle decorated in diamonds and a diamond-covered sword.
Those two items were among a portion of the stolen goods recovered in Berlin by German law enforcement authorities in late 2022.
The whereabouts of other treasures, such as a large breast bow of Queen Amalie Auguste, made of 611 small diamonds, silver and gold, and an epaulet that includes the so-called Saxon White diamond, remain unknown.
Last year, five men were sentenced to several years in prison for taking part in the robbery. They admitted to setting fire to a nearby circuit breaker panel to cut the power in the area and using a hydraulic cutting machine to break into the museum.
The men are members of the so-called Remmo Clan, a family crime network with Arab roots operating in Germany that's been linked to other robberies in the past.
Ackermann said an international commission of experts would convene to discuss how to restore the recovered jewels.
"The baroque jewelry ensemble in the jewelry room is unique in the world," Ackermann said. She added that museum officials had "not given up hope of being able to exhibit the remaining jewels here in the Green Vault one day."
