17 Aug,2024. Dresden, Germany
The Green Vault jewels, stolen in a multi-million dollar heist in 2019 and later recovered, are now on display again in Dresden, Germany.
The Green Vault, located in Dresden’s Royal Palace, was created to house precious items collected by Saxon elector August the Strong, who later became king of Poland.
In November 2019, five members of the Remmo Clan, a German crime family, broke into the vault. They used an axe to smash the glass and stole 21 pieces of 18th-century jewelry, worth about €114 million (around $125 million). They were sentenced to six years in prison for armed robbery, arson, and other charges.
Most of the stolen jewels have been recovered, and the Green Vault has reopened with the collection nearly restored. Marion Ackermann, head of the Dresden State Art Collections, said the jewels are displayed with minimal visible damage but still need restoration.
Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer praised the recovery effort, stating that Berlin crime clans had stolen their cultural heritage, but they fought to get it back.
While many items, including a diamond-studded breast star and sword, were recovered in late 2022, a large breast bow with 611 diamonds and an epaulet with the Saxon White diamond are still missing. An international team of experts will soon meet to discuss how to restore the recovered jewels.