Heist heads absolutely feasting this year !
Reuters-
Thieves drill into German bank vault and make off with millions
BERLIN, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Thieves used the quiet Christmas period to drill their way into the vault of a German retail bank and make off with at least 10 million euros' worth of money and valuables from customers' deposit boxes, police said on Tuesday.
The perpetrators drilled through a thick concrete wall at a branch of Sparkasse bank in the western city of Gelsenkirchen and then broke into several thousand safe deposit boxes and stole a sum estimated in the double-digit millions of euros, the police said in a statement.
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Most shops and banks close in Germany over the Christmas period starting from the evening of December 24, and police only discovered the hole after a fire alarm went off in the early hours of Monday, December 29.
Dozens of angry customers gathered in front of the bank on Tuesday loudly chanting "Let us in!".
A hole gapes in a wall after thieves drilled into the vault of a Sparkasse savings bank in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, December 29, 2025, in this image released December 30, 2025, by the police.... Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab Read more
"I couldn't sleep last night. We're getting no information," one man told the Welt broadcaster as he waited outside the branch, adding that he had been using the safe for 25 years and that it contained his savings for old age.
Another man said he used his deposit box to store cash and jewellery for his family.
A spokesperson for the Sparkasse bank in Gelsenkirchen did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Police said witnesses have reported that they saw several men on Saturday night carrying large bags in the stairwell of an adjacent parking garage.
There were also reports of a black Audi RS 6 leaving the garage early on Monday morning with masked men inside. The vehicle's licence plate was that of a car stolen in Hanover, more than 200 kilometres to the northeast of Gelsenkirchen, police said.
Reporting by Rachel More; Editing by Hugh Lawson
I guess that makes sense, but as someone who has worked in "cash economies" before, my experience is this: if you're not making a ton of cash, you just keep it at home, or put it in the bank if it's below any reporting thresholds. If you are making a ton of cash, then you end up wanting to pay taxes on it (aka, money laundering), in which case it goes into the bank. Obviously, this all excludes that you're paying cash for everything you can.
You underestimate the German obsession with cash and how they have this sovereign citizen-esque fear that 'the man' is going to come after them any time now, and that they will use their bank movements to fuck them over. Which, I guess is a realistic fear to have, but they're coming at it in a uniquely German fashion, and from very post-left and libertarian position, rather than an actual critique of state power. As a result, there's bits of Germany where they will not take any payment except for cash and bitcoin.
They also love complaining about taxes, and therefore dodging taxes, except for the actually silly ones, like the church tax you get deducted from your paycheck every month, and that requires you to register your religion with the state, so they know which religion the money goes to.