In a daring raid bearing uncanny similarities to London's infamous Hatton Garden burglary, a criminal gang has stolen an estimated £25 million in cash, gold, and jewellery from a savings bank in Germany.
A Methodical Christmas Break-In
The heist targeted the Sparkasse bank in the city of Gelsenkirchen, in western Germany. Police believe the thieves first entered the building on Saturday, 28 December 2025, exploiting the quiet Christmas holiday period. They gained access by drilling a hole through a wall from an adjacent indoor car park, using a diamond-tipped tool—a hallmark of the 2015 Hatton Garden robbery.
Once inside the vault, the perpetrators spent many hours, possibly over several days, forcing open more than 3,000 safe deposit boxes. The scale of the operation meant it initially went completely undetected. Authorities only became aware of the crime when a fire alarm was triggered in the early hours of Monday, 30 December.
Echoes of the 'Diamond Wheezers'
The parallels to the Hatton Garden heist are striking. That 2015 burglary, carried out by a group of elderly criminals nicknamed the 'Diamond Wheezers', also involved drilling through a concrete vault wall over a bank holiday weekend. The German crime shares this meticulous, time-consuming modus operandi.
A police spokesman described the Gelsenkirchen break-in as "very professionally executed", likening it to a Hollywood plot from 'Ocean's Eleven'. "A great deal of prior knowledge and/or a great deal of criminal energy must have been involved to plan and carry this out," he added.
Witnesses reported seeing several men carrying large bags in the garage staircase between Saturday and Sunday. Investigators have also reviewed video footage showing a black Audi RS 6 leaving the garage early on Monday morning. The vehicle was later found to have been stolen in Hanover, roughly 120 miles from the crime scene.
Aftermath and Investigation
As news broke, hundreds of distressed customers queued outside the bank on Tuesday, desperate for information about their possessions. One man told German broadcaster Welt that he had stored his retirement savings in his box, stating, "I couldn’t sleep last night. We’re getting no information."
To date, no arrests have been made, and a major investigation is underway. The audacious theft has sent shockwaves through the local community and drawn international attention due to its resemblance to the UK's most famous gem raid.
The Hatton Garden heist masterminded by Brian Reader (played by Michael Caine in film adaptations) resulted in the theft of £14 million. Key members of that gang, including Reader and Terry Perkins, have since died. The Gelsenkirchen crime now stands as one of the largest and most sophisticated bank heists in recent German history.
