Stolen jewels sparkle again in Dresden's Green Vault

Shining brilliant sun and gleaming diamond order: The jewels stolen from the Historic Green Vault in Dresden almost five years ago and returned by the perpetrators a good three years later are back in Saxony's Treasury Museum. The Dresden State Art Collections (SKD) are displaying them in the condition in which they were recovered in December 2022. From Wednesday, visitors will also be able to view the recovered jewels in the Jewel Room, which are still unrestored and sparkling like they used to.

"We are delighted and very grateful, today is a wonderful day for us," said Saxony's Minister President Michael Kretschmer, also on behalf of Minister of Culture Barbara Klepsch (both CDU). Together with the pre-school group from a Dresden nursery, they viewed the presentation of the recovered art objects for the first time.

SKD General Director Marion Ackermann spoke of a "particularly nice moment" to give the public the "opportunity to take a closer look". The returned jewels are being shown for the first time since the break-in.

In the special display case with the diamond and brilliant-cut diamond sets, a sun as a hair ornament for the queens, two shoe buckles or the heron's cap, which the elector and king wore on his hat instead of a crown, are once again arranged among the pieces that did not fall into the hands of the jewel thieves at the time.

Restoration only possible after completion of criminal investigation

Damage caused during the crime or afterwards due to improper handling is only visible on closer inspection: a missing stone, traces of corrosion or an orphaned diamond handle. "At the moment, we assume that all the pieces can be restored," said Ackermann.

The concept for this is being developed together with international experts. However, they are still pieces of evidence in ongoing criminal proceedings relating to the criminal case, which also made international headlines. The Soko Epaulette, named after two missing shoulder pieces, has not yet been able to find out where and how the objects were stored, hidden or kept between their theft and return.

Spectacular criminal case

The art theft on November 25, 2019 is considered one of the most spectacular in Germany. The perpetrators stole 21 unique pieces of historical jewelry made of diamonds and diamonds and caused over one million euros in damage. Five young men from the Remmo clan were sentenced to prison by the Dresden District Court in May 2023 for theft and arson of a getaway car in the underground car park of a residential building and an electricity distribution board.

At the end of the hearing of evidence, they had returned the majority of the loot through their defense lawyers shortly before Christmas 2022 - but there is still no trace of three prominent objects with large stones. Kretschmer and Ackermann hope that they will also be returned at some point and can be shown again in their old location.

Since then, the Free State has invested almost 10 million euros in the security of the SKD. And with persistent work by police from other federal states and the Saxon judiciary, it has been possible to recover a large part of the art treasures, said Kretschmer.

Ackermann: the most important items are back and visible to the public

"Of course, we are not giving up on being able to present the missing pieces here again one day," said Ackermann. For now, however, the joy of "what has been achieved here" dominates. There will be extended opening hours from Thursday and 1,000 free tickets, which are now being raffled off online - as access to the reconstructed rooms on the first floor of the Residenzschloss is only possible with timed tickets.

The historical display case in the Jewel Room of the prominent museum, which was looted on the night of November 2019, had been repaired and furnished almost a year and a half later, but with many gaps. Only the pieces of the diamond and diamond sets that the thieves spared, or that they were unable to get hold of through the holes carved into the glass with an axe, were in their original places: buttons, buckles and pearl necklaces.

Now most of the gaps have been filled, but three prominent objects with large stones are still missing - including the epaulette with the "Saxon White", a brilliant-cut diamond weighing almost 50 carats. Experts consider it to be one of the world's most important diamonds. Investigators still have no concrete clues as to its whereabouts. Nor do they have the identity of a sixth person involved in the crime.