Four men are set to stand trial on Tuesday at the Regional Court in Ingolstadt for their alleged involvement in the theft of an ancient gold treasure, as reported by Die Zeit. The defendants, aged between 43 and 51 and hailing from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Berlin, are accused of stealing an approximately 2,100-year-old gold treasure in November 2022.
The theft occurred at the Celtic-Roman Museum in Manching, Upper Bavaria. Burglars broke into the museum and, within a few minutes, stole the Celtic treasure, which was the museum’s showcase exhibit, according to Süddeutsche Zeitung. The treasure consisted of approximately 480 gold coins weighing around 3.7 kilograms.
Archaeologists discovered the collection in 1999 near Manching. The collection was the largest Celtic gold find made in the 20th century, demonstrating its historical and cultural value. “The loss of this treasure is immeasurable,” a researcher remarked, as noted by Die Welt.
Despite the arrests, the majority of the treasure remains missing. At the time of his arrest, one of the men from Berlin had 18 gold lumps with him. Investigations suggest that these gold nuggets are melted-down coins from the Manching gold treasure, as reported by Focus Online. However, the bulk of the approximately 3.7-kilogram treasure remains unaccounted for.
According to the public prosecutor’s office, the gold has a value of millions. The proceedings also involve about 30 other burglaries in supermarkets, restaurants, and gas stations in Germany and Austria, which are attributed to the accused.
The accused were arrested in July 2023 and have been in pre-trial detention since then. In the summer of 2022, the public prosecutor’s office charged the four men with serious gang theft. Throughout the investigation proceedings, the accused quartet has not yet commented on the allegations. It is still unclear whether the men will testify in the trial.
Researchers hope that the trial will provide clues about the loot. “We hope the proceedings will shed light on the whereabouts of the treasure,” a representative stated. “We want to uncover the circumstances surrounding this significant theft,” the court stated, according to Die Welt.
Initially, 31 trial days are planned until June. The extensive schedule reflects the complexity of the case and the number of related incidents being examined.
“The theft of such an important find is a great loss to our understanding of history,” a researcher commented, as reported by Die Welt.
The article was written with the assistance of a news analysis system.
This article was originally published at www.jpost.com
