Story perspectives

€100 Million Heist: Thieves Target German Bank Vaults

2/16/2026

Summary

Story summary

A bank heist in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, occurred between December 27 and 29, 2025, where thieves drilled a 40-centimeter hole into a vault wall, accessing over 3,000 safe deposit boxes and potentially stealing €100 million.
Firefighters responded to a vault alarm but determined it was a false alarm, leaving victims like Joachim Alfred Wagner concerned about the safety of bank vaults.
In a separate incident on February 14, 2026, burglars broke into 14 of 728 safe deposit boxes in Stuhr, Lower Saxony, with police yet to identify suspects or stolen items.

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Story summary

A bank heist in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, occurred between December 27 and 29, 2025, where thieves drilled a 40-centimeter hole into a vault wall, accessing over 3,000 safe deposit boxes and potentially stealing €100 million.
Firefighters responded to a vault alarm but determined it was a false alarm, leaving victims like Joachim Alfred Wagner concerned about the safety of bank vaults.
In a separate incident on February 14, 2026, burglars broke into 14 of 728 safe deposit boxes in Stuhr, Lower Saxony, with police yet to identify suspects or stolen items.