Priceless 2,500-year-old golden helmet returned to Romania after Dutch museum raid

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — A priceless golden helmet dating back 2,500 years was returned to Romania on Tuesday after the national heirloom was stolen from a Dutch museum where it was on loan last year.

The ornate Cotofenesti helmet and three golden bracelets — some of Romania’s most revered national treasures from the Dacia civilization — were taken from the Drents Museum in January 2025 in a raid which shocked the art world and devastated Romanian authorities.

But after 14 months of investigations, diplomatic tensions, and three suspects in an ongoing trial, most of the artifacts arrived at Bucharest Henri Coanda International Airport on Tuesday from where authorities transported them under guard to Bucharest’s National History Museum. They were displayed in a glass cabinet, flanked by masked, armed guards.

Cornel Constantin Ilie, the museum's interim director, said that the artifacts have been returned “not as simple patrimony items, but as relics of our historical memory, as the legacy of a civilization that continues to define us.”

“For us, this is a moment of joy, but also of contemplation,” he said. “For months, we have lived with the fear that part of our past could be lost forever. Today we can say that an essential part of this treasure has returned.”

Robert van Langh, the Drents Museum director, described the recovery and return of the relics as “an emotional moment for all involved,” and acknowledged “the grief, the anger and now the relief have naturally been even greater” in Romania than in the Netherlands.

“Romanian national heritage has returned home,” he said. “The impact of this robbery was already significant in the Netherlands, but here it must have been truly unparalleled … The police and judicial authorities of both countries have done extraordinary work.”

Dutch prosecutors unveiled the recovered items at a news conference in the eastern Dutch city of Assen earlier this month. The whereabouts of the third golden bracelet remains unknown, but van Langh vowed the search would continue and that a judicial verdict is expected in the coming weeks.

During its disappearance, the golden helmet was slightly dented, while the recovered bracelets were in perfect condition.

Romania’s Minister of Culture Demeter Andras Istvan said the return of the artifacts had shown “how strong the connection between heritage and collective consciousness can be.”

“This entire episode reminds us at the same time how exposed heritage can be. It can be exposed to violence, illegal trafficking, negligence, oblivion,” he said.

After the raid, Dutch authorities were left with grainy security footage of three people wrenching open a museum door with a crowbar, after which an explosion was seen. Before its recovery, there were fears the helmet may have been melted down because its fame and distinctive appearance made it virtually unsellable.

The artifacts will be exhibited to the public in Bucharest before undergoing some restoration work, the museum's interim director said.

“We believe that the public has the pleasure of celebrating them ... not only as splendid objects, but as a witness to an ordeal, an almost irreparable loss, and a return that we owe to the operation between institutions and the perseverance of the authorities,” he said. “Today, these treasures returned home.”

McGrath reported from Leamington Spa, England.

Journalists gather around a glass enclosure with the Dacian gold items, a 2,500-year-old helmet and wristbands, stolen from a museum in the Netherlands and then recovered by Dutch authorities, after they were presented upon being returned at the National Museum of Romanian History, in Bucharest, Romania, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Journalists take photos of the Dacian gold items, a 2,500-year-old helmet and wristbands, stolen from a museum in the Netherlands and then recovered by Dutch authorities, after they were presented upon being returned at the National Museum of Romanian History, in Bucharest, Romania, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Dacian gold items, a 2,500-year-old helmet and wristbands, stolen from a museum in the Netherlands and then recovered by Dutch authorities, are presented during a press conference after being returned, at the National Museum of Romanian History, in Bucharest, Romania, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Armed gendarmes stand by Dacian gold items, a 2,500-year-old helmet and wristbands, stolen from a museum in the Netherlands and then recovered by Dutch authorities, during a press conference after being returned, at the National Museum of Romanian History, in Bucharest, Romania, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

An armed gendarme stands by Dacian gold items, a 2,500-year-old helmet and wristbands, stolen from a museum in the Netherlands and then recovered by Dutch authorities, during a press conference after being returned, at the National Museum of Romanian History, in Bucharest, Romania, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Journalists gather around a glass enclosure with the Dacian gold items, a 2,500-year-old helmet and wristbands, stolen from a museum in the Netherlands and then recovered by Dutch authorities, after they were presented upon being returned at the National Museum of Romanian History, in Bucharest, Romania, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Journalists take photos of the Dacian gold items, a 2,500-year-old helmet and wristbands, stolen from a museum in the Netherlands and then recovered by Dutch authorities, after they were presented upon being returned at the National Museum of Romanian History, in Bucharest, Romania, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

LONDON (AP) — Authorities in Germany reported highway damages and train cancellations on Saturday as a heat wave that baked western European countries this week moves to central and eastern parts of the continent.

Temperatures in Germany are expected to hit 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). In the western city of Dormagen, dozens of residents of a nursing home were evacuated for medical care due to dangerous heat conditions in the building.

The local fire department reported that temperatures inside the home had reached 35 C (95 F). Air conditioning is not widespread in Germany and many countries in Europe because the continent is largely unused to such oppressive heat.

A resident at the home died overnight, but it was not yet clear whether the heat was the cause, a city spokesperson told German news agency dpa.

Even Germany’s famous highway, the Autobahn, was overwhelmed. In two places outside Berlin, the concrete of the A2 burst due to the high temperatures and it had to be closed. Other highway damages were also reported across the country, according to German daily Bild.

Train operator Deutsche Bahn and other rail companies advised against all nonessential travel on long-distance and regional trains this weekend.

“Germany’s transportation infrastructure is being severely affected by the record-breaking heat this weekend,” Deutsche Bahn said in a statement, adding that passengers could return their tickets and get back their money if they chose not to travel.

In France, temperatures were easing as the peak of the heat wave was starting to pass in some parts of the country. But hospitals remained under intense pressure in the face of heat-related emergencies, including heart attacks, heatstroke, dehydration and heat-related fatalities.

In the capital, the Paris public hospital authority said it activated its emergency response plan across all 38 hospitals to deal with a continuous increase in activity.

In a statement on Friday evening, the AP-HP hospitals authority said its emergency departments treated nearly 3,000 patients in last 24 hours, over a third more than normal, with a large proportion of them over the age of 75 requiring hospitalization.

Phone calls to its medical dispatch centers were up nearly 80% compared with the same period in 2025, the authority said.

Three-quarters of France, encompassing tens of millions of people, were put under a red alert for extreme heat on Thursday and Friday as the mercury topped 40 C (104 F) in some locations, including in Paris.

The country recorded its hottest-ever day on Wednesday, as the average temperature measured at 30 French weather stations hit 30 C (86 F.)

In the U.K., sweltering conditions are expected to gradually ease this weekend though an amber warning — one step down from red — remained in place until Saturday night.

Britons struggled to cope this week as the record June temperature was smashed three days in a row. Friday was confirmed as the country's hottest June day on record, with a provisional temperature of 37.3 C (99 F) recorded in eastern England.

It was more than 1 C hotter than the long-standing record for June heat in the U.K., set in the summer of 1976.

On Saturday, police said a 22-year-old man's body was recovered from a river after he reportedly got into difficulty in the water during the heat wave.

Authorities have warned people to take extra care when swimming in unsupervised areas, such as rivers or lakes, following the deaths of around 40 people in France over the past week.

Grieshaber reported from Berlin and Leicester reported from Paris.

A tourist from China protects her face from the sun as she takes pictures at the Roemerberg square in Frankfurt, Germany, Saturday, June 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

A girl cools off in a public fountain in Vilnius, Lithuania, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)

A Fiaker horse carriage rider cools his horses on a hot summer day in the city center of Vienna, Austria, Saturday, June 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader)

Spectators wear hats against the heat during the final of the Bad Homburg Open WTA tennis tournament in Bad Homburg, Germany, Saturday, June 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

People crowd the beach at the seaside resort on the island of Rügen, Germany, Saurday, June 27, 2026, as the heat wave continues over Europe. (Stefan Sauer/dpa via AP)