Police arrest two suspects
Stolen handball championship trophy probably melted down
January 15, 2026 – 7:32 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
Thieves steal the handball championship trophy from Füchse Berlin. Police officers catch two men and seize possible stolen property. But the trophy seems to be gone.
The Berlin police have arrested two men, aged 41 and 62, who are said to have stolen the championship trophy from handball Bundesliga team Füchse Berlin two months ago. During searches, investigators discovered not only a smelting furnace but also gold worth a low six-figure amount and 15,000 euros in cash. The trophy itself was apparently melted down into a sterling silver bar, which officials confiscated.
There is a suspicion that the trophy was melted down, confirmed a spokesman for the Berlin public prosecutor’s office. “But that is still the subject of the investigation.”
“The perpetrators have been caught,” said Füchse managing director Bob Hanning on Instagram on Thursday, and at the same time announced “the sad news. The bowl is an ingot.” While the older suspect of German nationality is now at large, the other man was taken into custody. The 41-year-old German had already attracted attention through several burglaries, as the spokesman for the public prosecutor’s office said.
According to a joint statement from the Berlin police and public prosecutor’s office, the arrests were preceded by “intensive investigations.” In addition to the melted silver bar, the officials also seized “another truckload of evidence.”
A surveillance system with voice recording installed after an earlier break-in led to the success of the investigation. “This enabled the criminal police to receive sound tracks and information about the perpetrators’ planned actions,” explained Hanning. The LKA and all the institutions involved had “worked incredibly,” praised the managing director.
The championship trophy was stolen from the Berlin club’s premises in mid-November, a few months after the Füchse’s historic first championship title.
League boss Frank Bohmann had already promised the Berliners a new trophy. “If the bowl is not found, we will ensure that there will be a new championship trophy at the end of this season. There will be another championship trophy – and we will not cut it out of cardboard,” Bohmann told “handball-world”.