Following a series of break-ins and attempted break-ins at jewellers’ shops in Hamburg, police searched a flat in accommodation in the district of Langenhorn on 12 November 2026. Specialist officers seized evidence. A day earlier, in Cologne two men had been provisionally arrested; Hamburg investigators are investigating them in connection with the incidents.
Police have linked the 18-year-old and the 22-year-old to three attacks on jewellery shops. Shops in Eilbek and Barmbek-Nord were targeted first, on 2 October, followed by an attempted break-in in Harburg. Police said two of the incidents remained attempts; jewellery was stolen in Barmbek-Nord. In each incident, the perpetrators used a car to ram the shops.
The two suspects were arrested on the morning of 11 November during a vehicle and identity check in Cologne’s Dünnwald district. According to reports by NDR and news website Tag24, police found two live firearms and ammunition in the vehicle. Hamburg police said they had previously identified the two men as suspects through criminal investigation measures.
The search in Langenhorn was connected with further investigations, according to Hamburg police. It was carried out under a search warrant issued at the request of the Hamburg Public Prosecutor’s Office . According to NDR, nobody was arrested at the accommodation. Police said the seized evidence still had to be analysed; the authorities did not initially disclose its nature or significance to the investigation.
The public prosecutor’s office and police are also examining whether other people were involved in the incidents. The provisional arrests and the search are investigative steps; in themselves, they do not prove guilt. The reports consulted do not say how the two suspects responded to the allegations or whether arrest warrants were issued for them.
The case links investigations in two federal states: the shops that were targeted are in Hamburg, while the stop and provisional arrests took place in North Rhine-Westphalia . For Hamburg investigators, analysing the items secured in Langenhorn is now particularly important. As of 12 November, it remained unclear whether they would strengthen the suspicions against the two men or provide leads to other people involved.
According to the investigation so far, the three incidents had different outcomes. Jewellery was stolen in Barmbek-Nord, while the attacks on the shops in Eilbek and Harburg failed. The use of a car in all three incidents is one factor investigators are considering as they examine possible links. No court ruling on the allegations has been reported.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).