Bavaria’s Minister of Art Markus Blume (CSU) assumes organized crime after the theft of the Manching gold treasure. “It’s clear that you don’t just march into a museum like this and then take this treasure with you,” he said in an interview with Bayerischer Rundfunk. “It’s highly secure, so it’s at least reasonable to assume that we’re dealing with a case of organized crime.”
During the burglary on Tuesday night, more was stolen than originally thought. In addition to the 483 gold coins from a showcase, three more were taken from a second showcase after the safety glass had been destroyed. “In fact, all security measures – including all telephone connections in Manching – have been paralyzed,” said Blume. In this way, the thieves could have circumvented the high level of security at the museum. “In Manching, as far as we know, all indications were observed, i.e. the most up-to-date and highest possible protection was taken as a basis,” said Blume.
However, it has now been shown “that even this level of safety precautions was obviously not sufficient”. The pot of gold is “of unique cultural-historical value,” emphasized Blume: “We’re talking about the largest Celtic gold find of the 20th century.” It says a lot about the early settlement history of Bavaria. “Against this background, the loss weighs twice as much and it is therefore clear that everything must be done and everything will be done to try to get hold of the perpetrator.” According to dpa information, the thieves are being searched for in the entire Schengen area.