Documentary

The Million-Thieves of the Rhine

In 1980, two men from the Rhineland pulled off one of the most spectacular million-mark heists in German history. A pair of con artists from Düsseldorf swindled the retail giant Metro out of a whopping 36 million DM. From then on, they were rolling in money and enjoying their life of luxury—first back home on Düsseldorf’s Kö, then on Copacabana—until Metro noticed the financial shortfall and put a bounty on the crooks’ heads. Not only the police but also the underworld were on the hunt for the two million-mark thieves. Above all, however, Metro manager Hannjörg Hereth took up the hunt. From then on, he had only one goal: to put the crooks behind bars and bring the millions back to the Rhine.