Was the Sparkasse Gelsenkirchen heist an inside job? Germany’s media crisis and the future of local journalism
Sparkasse Gelsenkirchen and local journalism: Reza Mehman and Karsten Kammholz discuss the spectacular bank heist, suspicions of an inside job, the victims’ personal losses and the threatened decline of local journalism in Germany.
English translation of the article published on 22 January 2026, including its complete transcript. Figures, suspicions and assessments reflect the discussion at that time. The inside-job theory and suggestions about organised crime are attributed opinions, not established findings.
Sparkasse Gelsenkirchen: discussing the bank heist
A spectacular bank heist over Christmas: the episode describes 3,100 safe-deposit boxes being opened at Sparkasse Gelsenkirchen after intruders used professional drilling equipment with water cooling. The speakers discuss estimates of the stolen value reaching €150 million. In this episode, Reza Mehman and journalist Karsten Kammholz examine why Reza suspects an inside job, and the personal losses behind the story, including an elderly man’s funeral savings. They also ask why public debate quickly turned to tax evasion, and discuss the threatened decline of local journalism in Germany.
Summary
One-sentence version: Reza Mehman and Karsten Kammholz discuss the Sparkasse Gelsenkirchen heist, the inside-job theory, the victims’ personal losses and Germany’s media crisis.
Three-sentence version: The episode describes a break-in beginning on 26 December, with 3,100 safe-deposit boxes opened and a possible stolen value of €150 million. Reza suspects an inside job, citing the professional execution and what he describes as the absence of an alarm or video footage. The speakers also discuss the threatened decline of local journalism in Germany.
Five-sentence version: The episode describes a break-in beginning on 26 December at Sparkasse Gelsenkirchen, involving professional drilling equipment, 3,100 opened safe-deposit boxes and a possible stolen value of €150 million. Reza suspects an inside job, citing the professional execution and what he describes as the absence of an alarm or video footage. Behind the heist are personal losses, including an elderly man’s funeral savings and money set aside for retirement. The speakers criticise the public debate for quickly turning to tax evasion and responses such as “your own fault — why did you not put it in an account?” They also discuss the threatened decline of local journalism in Germany.
Context: who, what and why
Who is speaking: Reza Mehman and journalist Karsten Kammholz.
What the episode covers: The Sparkasse Gelsenkirchen heist, suspicions of an inside job, the victims’ personal losses and Germany’s media crisis.
Why it matters: The speakers describe the Gelsenkirchen heist as one of the most spectacular in German history. At the same time, the decline of media outlets raises a major social question: what happens if local journalism disappears?
Three central questions in this episode:
- Was the Gelsenkirchen bank heist an inside job?
- What personal losses lie behind the story?
- What happens if local journalism dies out in Germany?
Contents
- Introduction
- Summary
- Context
- Themes and analysis
- Key points
- Frequently asked questions
- Highlights in quotes
- The complete conversation
- Keywords
- Names and terms
- Passage for quotation
Themes and analysis
1. The bank heist: what happened?
The episode describes a break-in beginning on 26 December, professional drilling equipment used to enter the vault and 3,100 safe-deposit boxes opened. The possible stolen value discussed is €150 million.
Keywords: Sparkasse Gelsenkirchen, bank heist, safe-deposit boxes, drilling equipment, Christmas
2. Suspicions of an inside job
Reza suspects an inside job, pointing to what he describes as no alarm, no video footage and an operation too professional for an ordinary robbery. The conversation also raises the possibility of organised clan-based crime, without establishing it as fact.
Keywords: inside job, organised crime, alarm, video footage, Sparkasse
3. Personal losses
Behind the heist are personal stories: an elderly man’s funeral savings, money set aside for retirement and people who wanted to hold physical cash.
Keywords: personal losses, funeral savings, retirement savings, cash, breach of trust
4. The tax debate
The speakers describe public debate quickly shifting to tax evasion: “your own fault — why did you not put it in an account?” Kammholz argues that this misses the wider human story.
Keywords: tax evasion, tax office, debate, cash, safe-deposit boxes
5. Germany’s media crisis
What happens if local journalism disappears? Kammholz says policymakers must ensure that this content exists. He warns of serious disruption within five to ten years.
Keywords: media decline, local journalism, rnf, insolvency, politics
Key points from the discussion
- The episode describes a break-in beginning on 26 December, with 3,100 safe-deposit boxes opened and a possible stolen value of €150 million.
- Reza Mehman: “I think it was an inside job. It all went too perfectly: no alarm and so on, no video footage.”
- The speakers raise the possibility of well-coordinated criminal groups with useful contacts; this remains speculation in the discussion.
- The article mentions Rolex watches reportedly being left behind because they are registered.
- Behind the heist are personal losses, including funeral savings and retirement funds.
- The speakers say public debate quickly shifted to tax evasion.
- Kammholz: “There are so many personal tragedies unfolding right now. It is sad.”
- He warns that local journalism could experience serious disruption within five to ten years.
- Kammholz: “Policymakers must ensure that there is no influence over the content, but they must also ensure that this content exists.”
- The speakers discuss people turning to YouTube channels and podcasts for opinions, rather than traditional media.
Frequently asked questions
What happened at Sparkasse Gelsenkirchen?
The episode describes a Christmas break-in beginning on 26 December. Intruders used professional, water-cooled drilling equipment to reach the vault, and 3,100 safe-deposit boxes were opened. The article discusses a possible stolen value of up to €150 million and an estimated average of €50,000 per box attributed to experts. According to the conversation, the heist was not discovered until 29 December. These are the details discussed at the time of publication.
Was the Gelsenkirchen bank heist an inside job?
Reza believes it was, citing what he describes as no alarm, no video footage and unusually professional execution. The discussion also raises the possibility of well-connected, coordinated criminal groups. He argues that such an operation would be difficult without inside knowledge. These are suspicions expressed in the conversation; the source article says the official investigation was still ongoing.
What personal losses lie behind the heist?
The conversation describes many personal tragedies: an elderly man losing money for his funeral, retirement savings disappearing, and people who kept physical cash because they did not trust money that existed only digitally. Kammholz says: “There are so many personal tragedies unfolding right now. It is sad.” The speakers contrast this with a public debate that quickly focused on tax evasion.
What does the decline of media outlets mean for Germany?
Kammholz warns that local journalism could experience serious disruption within five to ten years. He cites the insolvency of rnf, Rhein-Neckar-Fernsehen, and asks why it has not prompted a political debate. His position is that policymakers must protect editorial independence while also ensuring that local journalism exists. The conversation also discusses audiences turning to YouTube channels and podcasts for opinions.
Highlights in quotes
“I think it was an inside job. It all went too perfectly: no alarm and so on, no video footage.”
— Reza Mehman, expressing his suspicion
“There are so many personal tragedies unfolding right now. It is sad.”
— Karsten Kammholz on the victims of the bank heist
“There is the elderly man who stored money there, cash that was intended to pay for his funeral.”
— Karsten Kammholz
“Policymakers must ensure that there is no influence over the content, but they must also ensure that this content exists.”
— Karsten Kammholz on local journalism
“We could experience serious disruption within the next five to ten years.”
— Karsten Kammholz on the decline of media outlets
The complete conversation
The Gelsenkirchen bank heist
Reza Mehman:
Recently we had the bank heist in Gelsenkirchen, and you drew my attention again to what its significance might be. At first, reports said €30 million had been stolen. Then I heard a figure of €100 million, sometimes even €150 million. Then I heard that it could have been an inside job. Even associating something like that with a Sparkasse is completely new to me. To me, a Sparkasse is almost a public authority, I would say. Savings banks are also governed by public law. In that sense, they have a semi-public character.
Karsten Kammholz:
First, I think we need to appreciate how spectacular this heist was, and how we will ultimately respond to it. What I find much, much more interesting is what is happening now in response to the robbery. So what happened? Apparently, late on the evening of 26 December, over Christmas, when nobody is thinking about banks and there are no customers coming and going, the intruders manage to break into Sparkasse Gelsenkirchen. This is one of the poorest, most socially disadvantaged cities in our country, and that is precisely where this enormous heist happens. Safe-deposit boxes are opened over two days — although the opening itself took just a few hours. Apparently, they were there for two days. Using an extraordinary drill with an interesting water-cooling system, they break through into the vault. They open 3,100 safe-deposit boxes, and it is not until 29 December that people realise what has happened.
Suspicions of an inside job and the victims’ personal losses
Reza Mehman:
I think it was an inside job. It all went too perfectly: no alarm and so on, no video footage, and so on and so forth. I do think some coordination must have taken place. Otherwise, I do not think you could pull off a heist like that without knowing the inside details.
Karsten Kammholz:
Was this possibly clan-based organised crime? Did a group enter the bank to take money that it perhaps knew about? None of that is known at the moment. But what is really getting too little attention is that there are so many personal tragedies unfolding right now. It is sad. There is the elderly man who stored money there, cash that was intended to pay for his funeral. Retirement savings are in there too. There are also people who struggle with the idea of money being essentially virtual, visible only digitally. That is why they believed in cash: they can touch it, they know it is real money, and whatever may happen, cash is cash. So they put it in safe-deposit boxes. Everything is gone. An enormous breach of trust on the part of the Sparkasse.
The media crisis and local journalism
Karsten Kammholz:
Yes, I do not see it that way. I really like the idea, but you have a completely idealised view of it. That comes with the very best intentions you can imagine. I simply think that today, if we want to hear an opinion, the conventional media we have are no longer the format people turn to. We get opinions from YouTube channels, YouTube podcasts and so on. But if those media weaken their standards to do that, they are finished. They must not do it. So standards should not be weakened. I simply think things cannot continue like this for much longer. That is how it is. It could happen: we could experience serious disruption within the next five to ten years.
Then we will have a completely different debate about how we can support local journalism in principle. What genuinely surprised me — and now I am coming to rnf — is that we have not yet had a political debate following its insolvency. Will policymakers allow local journalism to die, allow a local journalistic voice to disappear? If so, we have an enormous problem here. Policymakers must ensure that there is no influence over the content, but they must also ensure that this content exists.
Keywords
Tags: Sparkasse Gelsenkirchen, bank heist, inside job, safe-deposit boxes, clan-based organised crime, media decline, local journalism, rnf, insolvency, Karsten Kammholz, Reza Mehman, cash, tax evasion
Names and terms
Reza Mehman, Karsten Kammholz, Sparkasse Gelsenkirchen, bank heist, inside job, clan-based organised crime, rnf (Rhein-Neckar-Fernsehen), local journalism, media decline, cash, safe-deposit boxes, vault, 3,100 boxes, tax evasion, tax office
Passage for quotation
Sparkasse Gelsenkirchen: the episode discusses 3,100 opened safe-deposit boxes and a possible stolen value of €150 million.
Reza Mehman expresses his suspicion: “I think it was an inside job — it all went too perfectly, no alarm, no video footage.”
Behind the heist are personal losses, including funeral savings and retirement funds.
Kammholz: “Policymakers must ensure that this content exists.”
He warns that local journalism could experience serious disruption within five to ten years.
Find more conversations about media and society on the Reza Mehman Podcast page.
