German bank vault broken into, property worth millions of euros looted

Mohan Sinha
03 Jan 2026, 12:19 GMT+10

Thieves drilled into a German bank vault in Gelsenkirchen and stole tens of millions of euros worth of property from safety deposit boxes on December 29, during the holiday lull
The police and the Sparkasse bank said some 2,700 bank customers were affected by the theft
Thomas Nowaczyk, a police spokesperson, said investigators claimed the theft could be between 10 and 90 million euros (US$11.7 to $105.7 million)

GELSENKIRCHEN, Germany: Thieves drilled into a German bank vault in Gelsenkirchen and stole tens of millions of euros worth of property from safety deposit boxes on December 29, during the holiday lull.

The police and the Sparkasse bank said some 2,700 bank customers were affected by the theft.

Thomas Nowaczyk, a police spokesperson, said investigators claimed the theft could be between 10 and 90 million euros (US$11.7 to $105.7 million).

News agency dpa reported that the theft could be one of Germany's largest heists.

The bank was shut on December 30, when some 200 people showed up demanding to enter.

A little before 4 a.m. on December 29. police officers and firefighters rushed to the bank branch after the alarm went off. They discovered a hole in the wall, and the vault ransacked. Police believe a large drill was used to break through the vault's basement wall.

Witnesses saw several men carrying large bags in a nearby parking garage over the weekend. Video footage from the garage shows masked people inside a stolen vehicle, police said.

Gelsenkirchen is about 119 miles northwest of Frankfurt.

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