The robbery at the Sparkasse bank in Gelsenkirchen occurred during or just after Christmas. The criminals first got into the bank's archives, and then used a special drill to break through subsequent security measures straight to the vault. The alarm was triggered only on December 29, when the fire protection system responded to a structural breach. During this time, thieves managed to rob over 3,000. safe deposit boxes, and the value of their loot is estimated by the German police at approximately EUR 30 million.
The previous such spectacular break-in into a German bank, called the “robbery of the century”, occurred in 2013 in Berlin. The robbers then looted 300 hiding places, containing loot worth approximately EUR 10 million. Some traces pointed to Poles' involvement in the crime.
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When did the Sparkasse bank robbery in Gelsenkirchen take place?
What losses did the police estimate after the attack?
What similarities are there between the current robbery and the one 13 years ago?
What traces indicate the participation of Poles in the previous attack?
The previous “robbery of the century” took place in Berlin. Investigators found Polish threads
The robbery of the Volksbank in Berlin took place in January 2013. Previously, for many months, the criminals had been drilling a 45 m long tunnel leading from the underground parking lot straight to the vault. “Exceptionally professionally made,” said a German police spokesman at the time, quoted by BZ. The space in the garage was rented by a man using a fake Dutch passport. In the tunnel, investigators found cans of Polish beer and a book published in our country entitled “Gangster”. To secure the tunnel, the criminals used construction materials from Poland. The perpetrators of the attack were never found, and in January 2023, the statute of limitations expired.
