Overview

• Three men were sentenced to 11, eight and four years nine months for the raid on the Kelten-Römer Museum and a fourth received seven years with a partial acquittal on the Manching theft charge.
• The trial spanned over six months with more than 30 court days, testimony from around 120 witnesses and proceedings on nearly 20 related break-ins across Germany and Austria.
• A special commission of the Bavarian state criminal police recovered discarded tools, matched DNA traces and used mobile-phone data to tie the suspects to the November 2022 burglary.
• Investigators confirmed that 3.7 kilograms of Celtic gold—483 coins and one ingot valued at about €1.5 million—were stolen and that the bulk of the hoard remains unaccounted for.
• The case has prompted scrutiny of cultural-heritage protection after outdated alarm systems and disabled telephone lines left the museum’s security vulnerable.