In a brazen holiday raid, criminals have executed one of Germany's most significant bank heists, drilling into a vault and making off with property worth tens of millions of euros from safety deposit boxes.
The Holiday Break-In
The theft took place at a Sparkasse bank branch in the city of Gelsenkirchen, located roughly 119 miles northwest of Frankfurt. Police believe the perpetrators struck during the quiet holiday period, with the break-in discovered in the early hours of Monday 30 December 2025.
Authorities were alerted by a fire alarm just before 4 a.m. that morning. Upon arrival, officers and firefighters found a scene of calculated looting: a hole had been drilled through the vault's basement wall, and the interior had been thoroughly ransacked.
Scale of the Loss and Investigation
Police spokesperson Thomas Nowaczyk stated the estimated value of the stolen property is between 10 and 90 million euros (approximately $11.7 to $105.7 million). This staggering range underscores the potential scale of the crime, with German news agency dpa suggesting it could rank among the nation's largest ever heists.
The fallout is widespread, with the bank and police confirming that around 2,700 customers have been affected by the raid on their private safety deposit boxes. The bank remained closed the following day, Tuesday, leading to frustration as some 200 people gathered demanding access.
Clues and the Hunt for the Thieves
Investigators are piecing together the criminals' movements. Police suspect a large industrial drill was used to penetrate the vault's substantial defences. Witness accounts and security footage are providing crucial leads.
Several witnesses reported seeing multiple men carrying large bags in a nearby parking garage over the weekend. Furthermore, video footage from the same garage captured masked individuals inside a stolen vehicle in the early hours of Monday, directly linking them to the timing of the crime.
The hunt for the sophisticated thieves continues, as authorities work to unravel the details of a meticulously planned operation that exploited the holiday lull to target the heart of the bank's security.
