Robbers armed with heavy drilling equipment carried out one of Germany’s most audacious bank heists in recent years, breaking into a vault at a savings bank in the western city of Gelsenkirchen during the extended Christmas holiday and escaping with cash, gold and jewellery worth an estimated 30 million euros (US$35 million), police and the bank confirmed on Tuesday (Dec 30).
The spectacular burglary, which investigators have likened to the Hollywood film Ocean’s Eleven, targeted a branch of the Sparkasse savings bank in North Rhine-Westphalia state. Thieves smashed open more than 3,000 customer safe deposit boxes after drilling their way into the underground vault from an adjacent parking garage, authorities said.
Police believe the criminals exploited the Christmas shutdown, when most German businesses were closed on Thursday and Friday, to carry out the operation undetected. Investigators suspect the gang may have spent several days inside the building over the holiday weekend, systematically forcing open deposit boxes one by one.
The robbery only came to light in the early hours of Monday after a fire alarm was triggered. Emergency services responding to the alert discovered a large hole leading from the parking garage into the vault room, prompting a major police operation.
According to the Sparkasse bank, “more than 95 per cent of the 3,250 customer safe deposit boxes were broken into by unknown perpetrators” during the Christmas holidays. The bank did not disclose the exact contents of the stolen items but confirmed that the losses included large amounts of cash as well as gold and jewellery stored by customers.
On Tuesday morning, hundreds of distressed customers gathered outside the shuttered bank branch, demanding information about their missing valuables. The branch remained closed for security reasons after threats were reportedly made against bank employees.
A police spokesman said officers remained on site to monitor the situation. “There were disgruntled customers outside the branch, but the situation has calmed down considerably,” he said.
Witnesses told police they saw several men carrying large bags in the stairwell of the parking garage during the night from Saturday to Sunday. Security camera footage later showed a black Audi RS 6 leaving the garage early on Monday morning with several masked individuals inside. Investigators said the vehicle’s licence plate had been stolen earlier in the northern city of Hanover.
Police described the break-in as highly sophisticated. “This was indeed very professionally executed,” the spokesman said, adding that it required “a great deal of prior knowledge and/or a great deal of criminal energy” to plan and carry out such an operation. The scale and precision of the burglary led investigators to compare it to a cinematic heist.
Authorities estimated the total damage at around 30 million euros, based on the average insured value of more than 10,000 euros per deposit box. However, police said several victims had already reported losses far exceeding the insured amounts, raising concerns that the true value of the stolen items could be significantly higher.
The bank said it had set up a customer hotline and promised to contact all affected clients in writing as soon as possible. It is also working closely with insurance companies to determine how claims will be processed.
“We are shocked,” said Sparkasse press spokesman Frank Krallmann. “We are standing by our customers and hope that the perpetrators will be caught.”
Police said the suspects remain at large and that the investigation is ongoing. Detectives are analyzing surveillance footage, witness statements and forensic evidence from the scene in an effort to identify those responsible for what is already being described as one of the most daring bank robberies in recent German history.
