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 admit most of my German experience has been in rural bits of Eastern Germany, and I was exaggerating a bit. However, it did happen to me that I needed cash on a Sunday and was told "no, the ATM isn't open on Sundays". The whole thing about never questioning the rules and being blamed for not being prepared has happened to me with Germans from all over the country though.
Dunno why i don't feel comfortable getting cash from places that are not banks or bank-related. Here you can get cash from tobacco shops, or other places, but i've never used it because it feels weird. Maybe that's my most boomer trait.
You know what: Valid. if Germans are one thing, it's grumpy and resentful of helping anyone. They will help you, but they will let you know that it is an inconvenience and that you are to blame.
From my experience where I've lived in Germany, it sometimes depends on which bank in which municipality you're in. The town I grew up in had the bank rule of "no ATM after the bank closed", the next town over had two branches of banks that had 24/7 ATMs, but the other two branches in the city had the same "no ATM after the bank closed" rule. It's not regulated, like so many other things here are.