Jewels stolen from Dresden's Green Vault in Germany back on display

The antique jewellery stolen from Dresden's Green Vault museum in a spectacular robbery almost five years ago went back on display in the eastern German city on Tuesday.

The jewels are being shown unrestored in the condition they were in when recovered in December 2022.

"We are happy and extremely grateful. Today is a beautiful day for us," Michael Kretschmer, premier of the state of Saxony said on opening the display once more.

Marion Ackermann, head of the Dresden State Art Collections, described the day as a "particularly beautiful moment."

The jewellery is being displayed under special lights in its case alongside the jewels that survived the heist. Close examination reveals damage to the pieces.

"We are currently assuming that all the pieces can be restored," Ackermann said. International experts are to be called in, but the jewels are currently evidence in ongoing trials.

They will be on view to the general public beginning Wednesday, with extended evening hours to start on Thursday.

The break-in at Saxony's famous museum on November 25, 2019 is considered one of Germany's most spectacular art thefts.

The burglars stole 21 pieces of jewellery stored at the Dresden Royal Palace, one of the oldest buildings in the city and home to one of Europe's largest collections of treasures.

They caused more than $1 million worth of damage when they set fire to an electricity distribution box in Dresden's Old Town and to a getaway car in the underground car park of a residential building to cover their tracks.

In May 2023, the Dresden District Court sentenced five young men from the Berlin Remmo clan to several years in prison.

The sentencing was preceded by an agreement between the parties involved in the trial, which involved the return of a large part of the loot, but there is still no trace of some of the most valuable items.

Kretschmer and Ackermann expressed the hope that they would one day be returned.