After theft of iconic Dacian helmet and bracelets in Assen: what about the security in Dutch museums?

It was seventeen minutes past four at night when museum director Harry Tupan was called. There was an emergency in the Drents Museum, its museum. That it is “something so big,” he couldn’t imagine at the time. Because big, that’s it.

What exactly happened on Saturday morning?

Four objects have been stolen, including the showpiece of the exhibition: the golden helmet of Cotofenesti, a national icon – he dates from the mid -fifth century BC, weighs 726 grams, measures 25.5 by 20 centimeters and is of pure gold . Three Dacian royal bracelets have also been stolen.

The works were on loan from the National Historical Museum of Romania, for the exhibition Dacia. Rich of gold and silver. Sunday would be the last day of the exhibition, but the museum closed its doors on Saturday. The stolen objects were previously exhibited abroad.

First an external door of the museum was forced. The museum in Assen is located in a few connected buildings. Camera images published by the police shows how a group of people, three or four, open a door. Then: an explosion.

Around 3.45 the police received a first report. Once there, the police found a damaged building, no people, and fewer artworks than should be there. Half an hour later the police received a message about a car fire near the N33, about seven kilometers from the museum. The authorities suspect that the car was used by the perpetrators.

The perpetrators are still being searched. The police work together with Interpol and say they take several suspects into account.

Was the museum’s security sufficient?

The security was ‘completely in order’, noted museum director Harry Tupan on Saturday at a press conference. “Absolutely” had taken extra measures, he cannot comment on details. “You take it into account, in consultation with the fellow institution and the insurance you take measures.”

“Against an explosive, it appears now, nothing or nobody can cope,” said director of the Vera Carasso museum association. It is not the first time: in 2012 Museum Gouda, recently at a gallery in Oisterwijk. Carasso also points out that the museum is familiar with loans, as evidenced by earlier exhibitions: Gold from Georgia,, ” The Terracotta Army and Frida Kahlo.

Are the objects melted now?

That’s a fear. The gold price is high, but the insured value of the works is much higher. According to RTV Drenthe, the helmet, for example, would be insured for more than four million euros. The melted gold, 726 grams, would yield around sixty thousand euros. It continues to speculate, but if the objects are stolen to melt, the question can be asked: why have not more gold objects been stolen?

What does this mean for loans to Dutch museums?

A burglary does not have to lead to a breach of trust. Dutch museums ‘all know each other’ and must also meet safety requirements, explains Evert van Os, director of the Singer Laren. “But museums from abroad may see such a robbery when they google.” The Lentet Garden Van Vincent van Gogh was stolen from his museum in 2020. It was on loan from the Groninger Museum and is now also justified. Van Os has not noticed that museums no longer gave him loans after the burglary. An application was never rejected on the basis of the burglary, and he does not notice that the museum has more difficulty with loans than before. The security at Singer Laren was well in order, and the museum world knows that. The insurance for a museum can become slightly more expensive after a burglary, Van Os says.

The timing of the theft means that in Romania extra attention is paid to speculation for motives behind the theft

Who were the Dacians?

The Dacians themselves have not left written sources, so in addition to archaeological finds, Roman and Greek texts are the most important entrance to the history of this people – which was perhaps not one people at all, but consisted of several peoples. The oldest known written mention of the Dacians is from Caesars The Bello Gallicofrom around 50 BC.

The Romans were talking about Daci, while the Greeks spoke of Getae when they talked about people who lived in present -day Romania. It is unclear whether they meant the same people here or whether it concerns two different tribes. That confusion is because classic authors used these names generalizing, with limited knowledge of first -hand or even a total lack of it. In any case, it is certain that the Dacians are about Indo-European tribes that belonged to the language group of the Northern Thracians.

What is known about the stolen objects?

The helmet of Cotofenesti was discovered by a group of children in 1928 after heavy rainfall on a hill. They didn’t know what it was and played with it. Subsequently, the parents of one of the children used the shiny object for a while as a water bowl for the animals. As a result of this improper use, the top of the helmet was damaged. After a while a passing merchant from Ploielandsti found out that it was an archaeological object, after which it was transferred to the National Archaeological Museum in Bucharest in 1929.

The three gold bracelets were found near Sarmizegetusa Regia, the power center of the Dacians in the Orătie Mountains. They probably belonged to a royal family. The bracelets, made halfway through the first century BC, were once left as sacrifices, often accompanied by large quantities of coins. They are made of local gold, first hammered and then engraved, and with hose or wolf-like creatures at the ends.

The loss of these bracelets is extra painful, because Romania only had them in possession since 2007. Between 1996 and 2001 a lot was searched for archaeological treasures in the Sarmizegetusa Regia area, which were subsequently largely exported illegally. More than half of the 24 bracelets disappeared at the time have now been found in Germany, France and the United States and returned to Romania, which is now losing three again.

How does Romania react?

Due to the important symbolic value of the works in Romania, the theft is high. The Romanian Prime Minister, Marcel Ciolacu, sent a ‘crisis team’ to the Romanian Ministry of Culture on Monday to check whether the protocols have followed well in the preparation of the exhibition. He states in Romanian media that the government has not given permission for the loan, where this happened with earlier foreign exhibition of the objects. The Drents Museum knows nothing about this: “We have concluded a contract with the National Historical Museum of Romania,” said a spokesperson.

Romania is en route to the presidential elections, which take place in May. The timing of the theft means that extra attention is paid to speculation for motives behind the theft. The extreme right -wing and particularly popular presidential cadidate Calin Georgescu accuses Romanian Ministries of Foreign Affairs and of culture of “neglect and cultural and historical competence.” If it is up to him, the responsible ministers must leave.

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