Germany hunts Christmas thieves after Ocean’s Eleven-style bank heist

While a occidental German metropolis slept done the Christmas holidays, thieves drilled into a slope vault and vanished with millions.

Robbers broke into a vault astatine a savings slope successful occidental Germany during the Christmas holidays, stealing cash, golden and jewellery estimated to beryllium worthy up to $105m, the constabulary and the slope said.

According to constabulary connected Tuesday, the perpetrators utilized a ample drill to bore done a heavy factual partition of a subdivision of Sparkasse slope successful the metropolis of Gelsenkirchen, successful North Rhine-Westphalia state. Breaking successful from an adjacent parking garage, the thieves gained entree to an underground vault country and forced unfastened much than 3,000 harmless deposit boxes.

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Thomas Nowaczyk, a constabulary spokesperson, said investigators judge the full worth of the stolen items could scope betwixt 10 and 90 cardinal euros ($11.7m and $105.7m).

Police and acrophobic slope customers basal successful beforehand of a subdivision of the Sparkasse slope successful Gelsenkirchen, occidental Germany, connected December 30, 2025, aft the slope was robbed [AFP]

German quality bureau dpa reported that the robbery whitethorn fertile among the biggest successful the country’s history.

Sparkasse confirmed that the subdivision had been “broken into implicit the Christmas holidays”, saying that “more than 95 percent of the 3,250 lawsuit harmless deposit boxes were breached into by chartless perpetrators”.

The transgression is believed to person taken spot portion businesses were closed for the extended Christmas break. Police fishy the pack whitethorn person remained wrong the gathering for respective days, utilizing the agelong vacation play to interruption into the deposit boxes undetected.

The theft lone came to airy successful the aboriginal hours of Monday, erstwhile a occurrence alarm was triggered. Emergency responders who arrived astatine the country discovered the spread starring into the vault.

Witnesses aboriginal told constabulary they had seen respective men carrying ample bags done the parking store stairwell overnight betwixt Saturday and Sunday.

Security camera footage besides showed a achromatic Audi RS 6 leaving the store aboriginal connected Monday morning, with masked individuals inside. The conveyance was aboriginal identified arsenic having a licence sheet belonging to a car stolen successful Hanover, much than 200km (124 miles) northeast of Gelsenkirchen.

Ocean’s Eleven-esque

A constabulary spokesperson described the cognition arsenic highly organised, comparing it with a Hollywood-style robbery resembling Ocean’s Eleven.

The break-in was “indeed precise professionally executed”, helium told the AFP quality agency.

“A large woody of anterior cognition and/or a large woody of transgression vigor indispensable person been progressive to program and transportation this out,” helium added.

Emergency responders discovered a elephantine spread successful the partition of the bank’s vault aft chartless thieves broke into a Sparkasse slope subdivision during the Christmas holidays [Handout: Police Gelsenkirchen via AFP]

Police said the mean insured worth of each deposit container was much than 10,000 euros ($11,700). However, officers said respective victims had reported that the contents of their boxes were worthy importantly much than the insured amount.

On Tuesday, hundreds of customers gathered extracurricular the bank, demanding answers. The subdivision remained closed for information reasons aft threats were reportedly made against staff.

“I couldn’t slumber past night. We’re getting nary information,” 1 antheral told the Welt broadcaster, saying helium had utilized the harmless deposit container for 25 years and stored his status savings there.

Nowaczyk, the constabulary spokesperson, said officers remained astatine the country to show the situation. “We’re inactive connected site, keeping an oculus connected things,” helium said, adding that “the concern has calmed down considerably”.

The slope said it had acceptable up a hotline for affected customers and would interaction them successful penning arsenic soon arsenic possible. It added that it was moving with insurers to find however compensation claims would beryllium handled.

“We are shocked,” said slope property spokesperson Frank Krallmann. “We are lasting by our customers, and anticipation that the perpetrators volition beryllium caught.”

Police said the suspects stay astatine large, and investigations are ongoing.

A spokesperson for the Sparkasse slope successful Gelsenkirchen did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.