The Green Vault jewel theft in Dresden, 2019

Just before 5 am on 25 November 2019, two thieves climbed into the Jewel Room of the Historic Green Vault in Dresden Royal Palace. The Green Vault is the treasury of the Saxon rulers, and the state of Saxony owns it. Prosecutors told Reuters that the men had sawed through part of a window grating earlier and fixed it back in place. They broke the display cases with axes and took 21 pieces of diamond jewellery that held more than 4,300 stones.

The Federal Court of Justice, Germany’s highest court for criminal appeals, records what happened before the break-in. Two other people set fire to a power installation in a bridge building to cut the electricity. They also burned the getaway car in an underground garage across the Elbe. Two residents were hurt by smoke.

The jewels were part of three sets kept in the room. Most of the pieces were set in their mounts between 1782 and 1789, and the Dresden State Art Collections say most of the stones came from Augustus the Strong and Augustus III. The thieves took a breast star of the Polish Order of the White Eagle and a diamond hat ornament. Reuters, The Guardian and the BBC give the value as more than 113 million euros. The court’s figure for the insurance value is over 100 million. The Dresden Green diamond itself was not in the case.

Six men in their 20s went on trial in Dresden on 28 January 2021. On the night of 16 to 17 December 2022, police and prosecutors secured 31 items in Berlin, after talks between the defence and the prosecutors. Four defendants then confessed in court, and the court agreed sentence ranges in return. The presiding judge, Andreas Ziegel, said, as dpa reports, that without the deal the pieces would probably never have come back. The prosecution said the statements were at least incomplete. The second man in the Jewel Room has never been identified.

On 16 May 2023 the Dresden regional court convicted five men of arson, theft with weapons and damage to property. It acquitted a sixth, who had an alibi. The New York Times names three of the convicted, all from the same Berlin family. Wissam Remmo received 6 years 3 months and Rabieh Remmo 6 years 2 months. dpa gives Bashir Remmo 5 years 10 months. Two brothers, tried under youth law, were also convicted and are not named here. The Federal Court of Justice rejected the appeals on 9 April 2024, and the judgments are final.

The Dresden State Art Collections list the items that came back. They include the breast star, the hat ornament, two shoe buckles, six coat buttons and a sun aigrette. Some were damaged. They went back on show on 14 August 2024, unrestored, because they are still court evidence. The collections list as missing the diamond necklace and the Large Bow Stomacher of Queen Amalie Auguste, the epaulette with the Saxon White diamond, the Large Diamond Rose, two coat buttons and small parts. Euronews counts three of 21 pieces as missing, so the counts differ. In October 2025 the Dresden prosecutor told Euronews that inquiries continue, with no reliable leads. Die Zeit reported in 2026 that the most valuable pieces are still missing.