This archive report was first published on 25 November 2019.
On November 25, 2019, thieves struck a room in the Royal Palace in Dresden, Germany, making off with a treasure trove of baroque artifacts worth millions of dollars.
The Grünes Gewölbe, or Green Vault, was home to 3,000 individual objects, including jewels, gold, crystal, and diamonds gathered by August the Strong, a 17th-century ruler of the kingdom of Saxony.
The Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, a consortium of museums, held the collection, which is a centerpiece of their holdings.
“Not only have the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen been robbed, but also we Saxons!” Michael Kretschmer, the state governor, wrote on Twitter. “The history of Saxony cannot be understood without the Grünes Gewölbe. The treasures found here have been acquired by the people of our state for years.”
Police in Dresden were investigating the break-in, but details were scarce, with officials saying only that an investigation had been opened.
Firefighters responded to an electrical fire on the August Bridge on Monday morning, sparking suspicions that the blaze may have been set deliberately to affect the nearby museum’s power supply.
