US$1 billion in jewels, no insurance: German police under pressure to catch thieves who carried out the ‘biggest art heist in modern history’
- Police in Germany hunt robbers who snatched priceless 18th-century jewellery from a state museum in Dresden
The German state of Saxony, the owner of the Green Vault museum in the eastern city of Dresden, carried no insurance on the jewels, standard practice because the premiums typically exceed potential damages in the long-term, the state Finance Ministry said.
While public museums usually insure works of art that are loaned to other institutions, they often don’t take out policies on their permanent collections, according to Julia Ries, head of fine art and jewellery at insurer Ergo Group AG.
“The budgets of public museums are limited,” Ries said.
“You can’t replace such a collection from a monetary or art-historic value. If the jewels aren’t recovered, this part of the collection will be lost forever.”
The insurance shortfall was revealed as more details of Monday’s theft became clear. Police believe the burglars set a fire nearby to create a power outage, then broke a window to enter the museum. Though the total number of culprits is unknown, two people quickly smashed a display case, snatched the loot, and fled.