Five Germans handed jail sentence for Green Vault jewel heist

A German court sentenced on Tuesday (16 May) five men to many years in prison for their role in a jewel heist that took place in Dresden in 2019. The museum houses one of Europe’s largest art collections.

The stolen pieces from the Gruenes Gewoelbe museum (Green Vault), in Dresden, contained over 4,300 diamonds worth an estimated €113 million.

The police have said that most of the stolen jewels were recovered.

Six German men in their 20s were charged with serious arson and aggravated gang robbery.

Five family members received sentences ranging from four years, four months to six years, two months.

The men were said to have sawn a part of the window grating and then reattached it in order to enter the building as fast as possible.

Augustus the Strong (Elector of Saxony, later King of Poland) commissioned more and more beautiful jewellery in the 18th Century as part of his rivalry against France’s Louis XIV.

They were taken as war booty to the Soviet Union by the Soviets. In 1958, they were returned to Dresden, which was the historical capital of Saxony.