‘Priceless’ Jewels Were Reportedly Stolen from German Museum
BERLIN — Thieves broke into Dresden’s Green Vault, one of the world’s oldest museums, early Monday morning, making off with three “priceless” sets of 18th-century jewelry that German officials said would be impossible to sell on the open market.
The dramatic heist took place at dawn on Monday, after a fire broke out at an electrical distribution point nearby. Power interruption intended for deactivating the museum’s alarm and plunging the area into darkness.
Despite the power cut, a surveillance camera filmed two men breaking into the Grünes Gewölbe (Green Vault) at Dresden’s Royal Palace. Police are examining CCTV footage which shows two suspects in the dark, but more people may have been involved in the robbery, BBC News reports.
Police said two robbers came in through a window, walked toward a glass vitrine, smashed it and left with the stolen jewels, including diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and sapphires. German newspaper Bild estimated the cost to be worth more than $1.1 billion.
According to the report, three out of 10 diamond sets have gone, Ms. Ackerman described them as ‘priceless’ because the items cannot be sold on the market legally – they are too well known.
The Green Vault is one of the oldest museums in Europe, founded by the August the Strong, Elector of Saxony, in 1723. There are about 3,000 items of jewelry and other treasures decorated with gold, silver, ivory and pearl, according to the BBC.
The museum’s most valuable jewel is safe. The 41-carat gem known as the Dresden Green Diamond is currently on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
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