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🇮🇹 Italy /Culture & Society

Million-Dollar Necklace Stolen in Vienna, Museum Faces Security Storm

From ANSA · () Italian

Translated from Italian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Under investigation
  • A visitor told La Presse that the MAK museum had no bag checks and that no alarm sounded when thieves smashed a display case and stole a Van Cleef & Arpels diamond necklace.
  • The museum’s director had cited high security standards, including 10 security guards and video surveillance.
  • The MAK has since installed metal detectors and required visitors to leave bags at the cloakroom while the exhibition remains open.

A witness’s account has intensified criticism of security at Vienna’s Museum of Applied Arts, three days after thieves smashed a display case and escaped with a million-dollar Van Cleef & Arpels diamond necklace.

There were no security measures, no bag checks, nothing.

— VisitorThe visitor described the conditions she encountered when entering the exhibition.

The visitor told La Presse that she entered the “Glanzstücke” exhibition with a large bag without undergoing a check. After admiring the necklace, she heard “a very loud, dull noise” and said the exhibition’s dividing walls shook from the blows.

She questioned why no alarm sounded. Another visitor reportedly said someone was breaking a display case. When the noise stopped, the witness returned and saw the damaged case. She said no security staff or museum employees were there yet, and that other jewelry, including earrings, appeared within reach. A staff member later asked visitors to leave the exhibition, but the witness said she left without questioning and saw no police officers.

Very high security standards

— Lilli HolleinThe MAK director-general’s description of the exhibition’s security arrangements.

The account conflicts with statements from MAK director-general Lilli Hollein, who had described “very high security standards” and a detailed plan for the exhibition. The museum also said it had deployed 10 security staff and video surveillance, and that employees had reacted “calmly” according to established procedures.

Calmly

— MAKThe museum’s characterization of how employees responded after the robbery.

The robbery took place on Thursday afternoon. Two men armed with a pistol and hammer broke the case and fled within minutes. They are being sought internationally, and the Landeskriminalamt has released their photographs. The MAK has since added metal detectors and required visitors to leave bags and backpacks at the cloakroom. The measures will remain at least until the exhibition closes on Sept. 27 and could be extended. The witness’s question remains central to the controversy: “But why didn’t the alarm go off?”

But why didn’t the alarm go off?

— VisitorThe witness questioned the failure of the alarm after hearing the display case being smashed.
About this summary

Originally published by ANSA in Italian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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