In the case of the historic Celtic gold treasure stolen from a museum in Manching, Bavaria, more than three years ago, a reward of €20,000 has been announced for information leading to its recovery. The search continues for the missing portions of the treasure, the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office (LKA) announced on Monday in Munich. The approximately 2,000-year-old gold treasure was stolen from the Kelten- und Römermuseum Manching in November 2022.
A portion of the loot was later recovered, but the vast majority remains missing. This includes 411 gold coins with an estimated weight of around three kilograms. According to authorities, the reward money comes from contributions by the State Criminal Police Office, the Archaeological State Collection Munich, and the Kelten- und Römermuseum Manching association.
The material value of the historic treasure, discovered in 1999, was approximately €1.3 million. Following the arrest of the suspects in July 2023, only about 500 grams of the coins resurfaced in melted-down form.
In early May, art crime investigators from the Bavarian LKA searched the house and an outbuilding belonging to the main suspect in a village near Schwerin in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania using X-ray and radar technology. However, the missing gold treasure was not found. According to the LKA, new evidence had strengthened suspicions that the main suspect, with the support of his partner, may have "professionally hidden" a large portion of the loot.
The alleged mastermind and three suspected accomplices, aged between 44 and 52 at the time, were sentenced by the Ingolstadt Regional Court in July 2025 to prison terms ranging from just under five to eleven years for the treasure theft and several other burglaries. The verdict against the main suspect is not yet final.
The court found it proven that three of the four defendants broke into the Kelten-Römer-Museum in Manching on the night of November 22, 2022, and stole the gold coin treasure dating back to the Celtic period. The more than 480 coins had a total weight of approximately 3.7 kilograms.
Investigations are also ongoing against the main suspect's partner. According to LKA statements, she allegedly offered multiple times to help dispose of melted gold. She is also suspected of having frequently received cash of criminal origin from her boyfriend.
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