Sobre este lugar
The Kröpcke clock has anchored Hannover's city centre since 1905, and this square has always pulsed with commerce and crowds. On 31 October 1981 that commerce turned criminal: a jeweller a few steps from this spot reported that two men had knocked him unconscious and escaped with about 40 kilograms of jewellery, around 3,400 pieces, much of it held on commission, valued at roughly ten million marks. The ensuing investigation became one of Germany's most tangled insurance mysteries, drawing in undercover agent Werner Mauss, a conviction in 1984, and an acquittal in 1989 after the covertly gathered evidence was ruled inadmissible. Then in June 2000, builders renovating a former family shop discovered 10.8 kilograms of the supposedly stolen jewellery hidden behind walls and ceilings, some pieces still bearing their original price tags, nearly nineteen years after the robbery. By then any criminal charge was statute-barred, nobody was charged, and the full story of what happened that Halloween night has never been established.
Datos clave
- 10 million marks — The reported value of the Halloween 1981 Kröpcke heist, making it one of the largest jewellery thefts in Hannover's history.
- 3400 pieces — The number of individual jewellery items taken in the raid, weighing around 40 kilograms, much of it held on commission for other owners.
- 10.8 kg recovered — The weight of jewellery found in June 2000 concealed behind walls and ceilings in a former family shop, nineteen years after the robbery.