Just over two years after a daring jewelry heist at the Green Vault museum, six men accused of stealing "priceless" artifacts are facing justice. The jewels are estimated to be worth €113.8 million ($135 million).
The stolen jewelry, worth at least €113.8 million, has still not been tracedImage: Oliver Killig/ZB/dpa/picture alliance
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The trial of six men accused of carrying out one of the biggest jewel thefts in modern German history got underway in Dresden on Friday.
Prosecutors have alleged that the men were responsible for the November 2019 heist at Dresden's Green Vault Museum, stealing treasures ($129 million).
The men, aged between 23 and 28, will be tried in a juvenile court, as two of them were legal minors at the time of the heist. They face charges of organized robbery and arson.
How the heist happened
Police said the robbers set fire to a power distribution box near the Green Vault Museum to plunge the area into darkness.
They then sawed through iron bars to gain entry to the display room.
Security camera footage released by Dresden police after the heist shows two suspects entering the room, waving their flashlights as they step across the black-and-white-tiled floor.
They then shatter a glass display case with an ax before grabbing the jewelry.
The priceless treasures stolen from Germany's Green Vault
In 2019, thieves robbed the opulent museum in Dresden, making off with dazzling jewels. Some of them remain missing to this day.
A treasure chest robbed
The unique jewel sets were the special attraction of the Green Vault. Among the stolen pieces are the diamond jewelry of former Saxon queens, a military star of the Polish Order of the White Eagle, and a diamond-encrusted sword. They were kept in display cases that the thieves broke into in November 2019.
Star of the Order of the White Eagle
The ornate breast star was made in 1746-49 by goldsmith Jean Jacques Pallard using diamonds, rubies, gold and silver. Receiving the star was a rare honor: By the time Saxon Elector and King of Poland Augustus II the Strong died in 1733, he had appointed only 40 Knights to the Order of the White Eagle.
An aigrette is a type of hair ornament. This piece, a stolen item from the collection in Dresden, was designed in the shape of a sun. It was made at some point between 1782 and 1807 and belongs to the collection of brilliant jewelry owned by the former queens of Saxony. It consists of 127 diamonds and is constructed of silver.
This over-the-top sword hilt was designed by several jewelers in the 18th century. It consists of nine larger diamonds and 770 smaller ones, as well as a number of silver, gold, steel and velvet elements. What happened to it after the theft is anyone's guess.
Saxony's ruler Augustus II the Strong (1670-1733) wanted to create artistic gesamtkunstwerk, mixed artistic forms, in Dresden during his reign. Between 1723 and 1730, he had a Baroque building erected to express his vision of wealth and power. This palace, now the Green Vault museum, reflects this opulent vision and to this day remains full of significant works of art and valuable jewels.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Kahnert
Time traveling in the White Silver Room
The White Silver Room is one of eight chambers that comprise the Green Vault. Visiting the collection is like traveling back in time to the Baroque era, as one browses the 3,000 objects in the collection. The Green Vault opened to the public as early as 1724. Visitors were only allowed to enter in small groups and, according to the king's wish, "with clean clothing."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Kahnert
August the Strong: Patron of the arts and lover of excess
Augustus II the Strong had his Dresden residence expanded according to the French model. He held court in the style of Louis XIV, depleting Saxony's finances in the process. The coat of arms of the elector of Saxony can still be found in the ornate building.
Image: picture-alliance/ ZB
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Police arrived on the scene five minutes after the alarm had been triggered, by which time the robbers and the jewels had gone.
The stolen jewelry has not been traced. The director of Dresden's state art collection, Marion Ackermann, refused to value the stolen items, calling them "priceless."
They caused around a million euros' worth of damage to the museum and car park.
What we know about the accused
Three suspects were arrested after police raided 18 Berlin properties in November 2020.
Two brothers were caught in December 2020 and May 2021, and the final suspect was arrested last summer.
