Jewelry robbery at the Louvre: What is missing and what history teaches us

The media is full of it: Last weekend, the Louvre in Paris was broken into, and jewelry of inestimable value was stolen—materially, historically, and spiritually: after all, it was the jewelry of French queens and empresses. Will the jewelry ever be returned to the museum? I'll be honest: I doubt it.

Left: The famous Louvre in Paris. Historically valuable jewels were stolen here over the weekend. © Patrick Langwallner/Unsplash.com

A jewelry robbery like in a movie

The famous Louvre Museum in Paris was broken into last week – the story promises to be a long-running media story: Professionals at work! Visitors panic! Louvre evacuated!

According to the French newspaper Le Parisien, the thieves are said to have entered the museum via the building on the Seine side. This strategy was likely made easier by the construction work currently underway there. A freight elevator took the burglars directly into a room in the Galerie d'Apollon, where the famous imperial jewels are exhibited. Le Parisien reports that the robbers smashed the windows while an accomplice kept watch. Two men then allegedly stole the pieces from Napoleon's and the Empress's jewelry collection. They then fled on motorcycles toward the A6 motorway.

What happened is truly sad. The pieces of jewelry that were stolen aren't just some pretty museum exhibit, but were priceless: Aside from the precious stones, diamonds, and craftsmanship, they are a testament to contemporary European history.

These pieces of jewelry were stolen

In total, the burglars managed to steal nine pieces of jewelry from the display cases in the Galerie d'Apollon. One of them, the crown of the last French empress, Eugénie de Montijo, was saved because the thieves likely dropped it while fleeing. The Swiss news platform 20 minutes has listed the eight pieces of jewelry that are now actually missing.

The above necklace with emeralds and diamonds belonged to Empress Marie-Louise of Austria, the second wife of Napoleon I. She lived between 1791 and 1847. The necklace also includes a pair of earrings, also with emeralds and diamonds. These earrings were also stolen by the burglars from the Louvre.

Empress Eugénie also owned two brooches and an impressive diadem made of diamonds and pearls – these are now also among the stolen goods of the burglars from the Louvre.

Other pieces of jewelry from the Galerie d'Apollon were owned by the French Queen Marie-Amélie de Bourbon-Sicily (1782–1866) and Hortense Eugénie Cécile de Beauharnais, Queen of Holland and mother of Napoleon III (1783–1837). These include a tiara, a necklace, and matching earrings with sapphires and white diamonds.

The object that was saved from the burglars' hands is the crown of Empress Eugénie. It was presumably dropped by the thieves while fleeing.

Dresden Green Vault: A Lesson from the Past

And that brings us to the topic I actually wanted to write about—and the first thought I had when I heard the news: We'll probably never see this jewelry the way it was again...

One need only think back to the break-in at the Green Vault in 2019. There are a few parallels between the two robberies. Back then, there were also fears that the historically valuable jewelry would not be recovered. Such famous pieces of jewelry, which are being sought worldwide, cannot simply be sold as stolen goods. Therefore, these historic art treasures often face a sad fate: They are broken, and the gemstones are recut in China or India – this is especially true for the historic rose-cut diamonds, as they are not easily marketable in this form today.

In the Green Vault burglary, 21 pieces of jewelry were stolen. Three years later, in 2022, with the arrest of the perpetrators, some pieces and fragments of the jewelry were recovered. Some of the jewelry was broken, deformed, or showed signs of rust. The stolen collection, with an insured value of €118 million, caused total damage of between €20 and €25 million.

One can only hope that the treasures from Paris will escape this fate. But the more time passes, the more likely it is that the necklaces, earrings, brooches, and tiaras will be seen again in an undamaged condition.