The Vienna Art History Museum Robbery
The Art History Museum in Vienna, or the Kunsthistorisches Museum, is one of the most important art museums in the world and the largest one in Austria. However, as we now know, no matter the size or prestige of the museum it is not immune to robberies.
The museum itself came about in 1891 when Emporer Franz-Joseph I of Austria-Hungary opened the facility. It was designed as a space to house the Habsburg’s art collection and make it accessible to the public.
The Robbery
In the very early morning hours of May 11, 2003, the Kunsthistorisches Museum was under construction and had scaffolding up one side of the building. There were three guards on duty and they heard an alarm sound, interrupting their quiet Sunday morning shift. They decided that the alarm must be false and switched it off without going to check the room which the alarm had originated from, and went back to work.
Later that morning, before the museum opened at around 8:00am, a cleaning woman was doing her daily rounds with a different guard when they entered a gallery on the first floor. They saw that the window had been smashed as well as one of the display cases in the room and a piece called Saliera was missing.
Saliera, or salt cellar, was created by Benvenuto Cellini in the 16th century. Cellini was one of the most important sculptors of the renaissance, with his most famous work being Perseus with the Head of Medusa. Saliera is special, however, because it is his only work that involves goldsmithing. The small, sculpted (functional) salt cellar is made entirely out of gold with some enamel work and is worth at least €50 million.
The police were immediately called and they were able to piece together what happened. In the early morning the thief climbed up the scaffolding, broke one of the double layered glass windows of the first floor gallery, broke the unarmoured glass case and made off with Saliera. The guards on duty essentially helped the thief get away with it by not responding when the alarm went off and turning it off thinking it was a mistake. The police described this robbery as very professional and that they suspected the theft was commissioned by someone who wanted this piece in their collection because the gallery held many other priceless items which weren’t touched.
In an interview the Director of the Kunsthistorisches Museum said “I really cannot understand why [the guard turned off the alarm], it shouldn't have happened, but what can I do? I cannot kill him” (Landler, 2003). All three guards on duty that night were suspended but they were ultimately cleared of any involvement in the robbery plot.
The Austrian police got Interpol involved to try and find this sculpture as soon as possible and offered an $80,000 reward for any information leading to its recovery.
Fast Forward
The police kept their investigation relatively quiet after the robbery as they worked the case. Since this sculpture is seen as a symbol of Austrian art and cultural treasures it stayed top of mind for people in the art community and even in the general public. This was also due in part to the thief themselves. In an anonymous radio interview, he made fun of Saliera’s safety, talking about the poor quality of security at the museum. Another time he demanded a €5 million ransom.
Then in October 2005 the thief sent the police the trident from Saliera (don’t worry, it’s detachable) along with a demand for €10 million. Through text messaging the thief communicated with the police and sent them on a scavenger hunt all over Vienna before getting cold feet and backing out of the actual handover of the sculpture. He thought he had gotten away with it but this most recent interaction with the police was his downfall. They were able to capture a photo of the suspect purchasing the phone that the messages were sent from, this photo was released to the public, and the man was immediately recognized as Robert Mang.
Following this identification Mang phoned the police to deny his involvement but soon after confessed to his lawyer that it was him all along. He ended up leading authorities into the woods near his vacation home outside the city to several trees that he had marked to show where he had buried the sculpture. When they unearthed it, it was in a metal box wrapped in linen and plastic and properly waterproofed. Saliera only had minor damage and hadn’t even been buried for that long, for most of the time it was missing it was under Mang’s bed in a suitcase.
Robert Mang revealed to police that he actually took the sculpture on a whim. In early May 2003, he had joined a tour of the Kunsthistorisches Museum. As they were shown around the museum he noticed that there were major flaws in the security systems everywhere.
Then he was out partying into the morning of May 11, 2003, and was walking home (a little drunk) when he passed the Kunsthistorisches Museum. As an alarms system expert, and remembering what he had noticed on the tour, he wanted to see if his assessment of terrible security was right. So he climbed up the scaffolding, broke the window, and broke the display case to get the sculpture and leave. He said he wanted to take the sculpture because he wouldn’t have been able to make off with a painting that easily. He also said it was never about money for him, instead he just wanted to show how bad the security system was. He said it was so easy to get away and described the whole thing as “child’s play” (Today, 2006).
In court Mang was convicted of the theft of the sculpture (duh) and he had also been charged with extortion for the ransom attempts, but that charge ended up being dropped for insufficient evidence. He was sentenced to four years in prison. Thankfully, Saliera is now properly insured and protected and back on display at the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
Works Cited
Harding, Luke. “Strange Case of the €35 million Salt Cellar”. The Guardian. 2006. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2006/jan/23/arttheft.austria
Landler, Mark. “Thieves take Cellini Sculpture from Art Museum in Vienna”. The New York Times. 2003. https://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/13/world/thieves-take-cellini-sculpture-from-art-museum-in-vienna.html
“Thief of $65 million Painting is Sentenced”. Today. 2006. https://www.today.com/popculture/thief-65-million-painting-sentenced-wbna14718310