2019 Dresden heist

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2019 Dresden heist
Dresden 2012-05-22-6590.jpg
The Green Vault museum in 2012
Date25 November 2019 (2019-11-25)
Time04:56 a.m CET (UTC+1)
VenueThe Green Vault,
Dresden Castle
LocationDresden, Germany
TypeJewellery theft
SuspectsAt least two unidentified individuals
Stolen value€1 billion

On 25 November 2019, royal jewellery was stolen from the Green Vault museum within Dresden Castle in Dresden, Germany. The stolen items include the 49-carat Dresden White Diamond, the diamond-laden breast star of the Polish Order of the White Eagle which belonged to the King of Poland, a hat clasp with a 16-carat diamond, a diamond epaulette, and a diamond-studded hilt containing nine large and 770 smaller diamonds, along with a matching scabbard.[1] The missing items were of great cultural value to the State of Saxony and were described as priceless; other sources estimate the total value at about €1 billion.[2][3]

Museum

Main article: Green Vault
Jewel Room (labelled 8) within the Green Vault

The heist took place at the Green Vault (German: Grünes Gewölbe) in Dresden, Germany, one of the oldest museums in Europe, founded in 1723 by Augustus II the Strong, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland. At the time of the heist, it displayed about 4,000 items of jewellery and other treasures which were decorated with gold, silver, ivory, pearl, and other precious metals and stones.[4] One of the museum's main treasures, the 41-carat Dresden Green Diamond, was away on loan at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.[1]