‎Germany Hunts Christmas Thieves after Ocean’s Eleven-style Bank Heist

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‎Authorities in Germany are currently pursuing a group of sophisticated thieves following a massive, “Ocean’s Eleven-style” heist at a savings bank over the holiday period.

During the Christmas break, burglars infiltrated a Sparkasse bank branch in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, making off with an immense haul of cash, gold, and jewelry.

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‎The operation was highly technical; police reports indicate the perpetrators used heavy-duty machinery to drill through a reinforced concrete wall, entering the bank’s underground vault from a neighboring parking garage. Once inside, they systematically compromised over 3,000 safe deposit boxes. Due to the precision and scale of the crime, investigators suspect the gang may have occupied the building for several days, taking advantage of the quiet holiday weekend to work without detection.

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‎Police spokesperson Thomas Nowaczyk noted that the total value of the stolen assets is estimated to be between $11.7 million and $105.7 million (€10 million to €90 million). If these figures are confirmed, this heist could be recorded as one of the most significant robberies in German history.

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‎The breach was only discovered early Monday morning after a fire alarm was tripped. Upon arrival, emergency services found the tunnel used to access the vault. Sparkasse later confirmed the incident, noting that “more than 95 percent of the 3,250 customer safe deposit boxes were broken into by unknown perpetrators.”