A golden helmet from the ancient eastern European Dacian civilisation stolen last year in a smash and grab from a Dutch museum has been recovered and revealed—surrounded by armed police—at a press conference in Assen.
The Helmet of Coțofenești ( around 450BC) and two golden bracelets (around 50BC), stolen in a raid on the Drents Museum in Assen in the early hours of January 25 last year, have been handed back shortly before a court case will begin against the alleged thieves. A third bracelet is still missing.
Corien Fahner, chief public prosecutor in the Noord-Nederland region, told a room full of reporters on Thursday that the objects were recovered on 1 April as part of a plea deal by three suspects accused of the robbery.
Robert van Langh, the director of the Drents Museum, says the recovery was a “wow” moment and that they were extremely happy to hand back the objects to Romania. “On the golden helmet of Coțofenești, as you can see, two eyes are depicted,” he says. “They are meant to protect both the wearer and the helmet itself against the evil eye, against misfortune."
“They have done so successfully for centuries, and even today they seem to prove their value,” he adds, in spite of last year's theft.
Van Langh was there to authenticate the objects at a handover—negotiated by the suspects’ defence team—yesterday and said that he was in a position to assess the damage. A small repair which had previously been made with glue has been damaged, he says, and there's a new dent in the helmet. However, he said, the helmet sometimes described as Romania’s “Night Watch” in terms of its importance, was largely intact.
“In the state it is in now, it can be fully restored,” he says. “It’s difficult to see but the helmet is slightly dented. The bracelets are in a perfect state.”
The objects were part of an exhibition tracing the story of the lost Dacian civilisation from around 450 BC, with 670 objects on loan from the Romanian National History Museum in Bucharest. In January, the Dutch culture minister reported that it had paid €5.7 million in compensation to Romania in compensation for the theft of cultural objects.
Romanian politician and member of the European Parliament, Daniela Buruiană said a recovery team was set up within 10 days of the theft and that they were now “very happy” with the result.