We've been burgled!

Jeezz!! We've only been here 3 months!! I was just commenting to a friend that one needn't be too concerned about putting deadbolts etc. as it was Munich aka "Toytown". What a wake up call it was for us.

The good thing about this is that the burglars didn't destroy anything. They ransacked the place and took some cash but left our laptops, camera etc. It could have been worse so I guess we were quite fortunate in that respect.

I have to say that the police were great. They came within 15mins of my call and were very nice. They also appeared to be quite thorough. In fact three lots of them came - first, the uniforms;then, the detectives and the guy who did the fingerprinting. - all within 2 hrs!! Sigh!I don't think they will catch the @$%&!!! who did it - apparently they wore gloves.

The police assured us that the burglar(s) won't back as my husband has to go away on a business trip on Monday. I certainly hope this is true.

Has it happened to any of you??

Sounds like pro´s to me...no hardware, just cash, wearing gloves etc.

They must have been in a hurry or blind. They left your laptop and camera!
I have to say it seems a bit stupid to tell everyone when your husband is going to be gone. What sort of a laptop was that again?

Yike, I'm sorry that happened. Hasn't happened to us yet, but I guess nowhere is completely safe.

Obviously amateurs. Probably some kids in the neighboring apartments. Keep an eye on them and see who has something brand spanking new in the next week. A profi would not have left those valuables behind. It was in inside job and the little shits will take advantage of you again if you don't take precautions now.

ah - what part of town do you live in and how did they break in ? (just wondering if I should pay more attention around here...)

...and they made that assurance based on...?

Um, first, I wouldn't announce this. It would be in your best interest to keep that fact to yourself incase the robbers sort of know you or your online persona- and put two and two together. Perhaps they read this and realize that the one apt they robbed just announced that it will be practically vacant for the next week and think that they should go back.

And secondly, why would anyone *not* take the laptops??? Seems a bit like highschoolers who can't move hot merchandise but who just need cash for their drugs or something.

I am not saying that crime doesn't happen here but this is the first one I have heard of on TT or from any of my friends/coworkers.

i dont know crime patterns in germany but the polizei *could* have made the assessments and assurances that these are professionals unlikely to return on either: the entry method - amateurs tend to be messy; or that money focused professionals tend not to hit the residential targets within a narrow time frame; or even possibly a particular group with similiar patterns has recently fallen under their radar screen.

there are a lot of reasons why profi's dont take hardware: if their new to the local, hence no fence network; if the hardware wasn't worth the bother. true profis are very, very discerning with hardware and non-cash items. could've also been that something spooked them into leaving before they got what everything they wanted.

good news i've heard that the munich force also has an excellent reputation so you can take some comfort in what they've told you. having said that though, i agree that given the scant details you've posted i would not at all rule out some neighborhood/amateurish elements...any moron knows to wear gloves really.

if you haven't already, you might want to:
1. work it out with your landlord to get new keys asap, even if all the keys are accounted for...its worth the peace of mind.
2. inform your neighbors. obviously the polizei presence was a tip off but just in case anyone was out of town, do let them know.
3. get timers for your lights/radio. not sure where/what they would be called in germany but i would be surprised if they were not readily available. timers are excellent deterrants to amateurs.

if you don't feel safe the next days, either stay at a friends house or have someone stay over. if thats not feasible, then:
4. me personally, i would alter my daily routine a bit, especially coming and going.
5. make sure you also have the emergency numbers posted by the phone - its easy enough to forget if you're in a panic.

HTH and good luck!

Hey - thanks for your all inputs! Sitting here now - it does feel pretty surreal that we have been burgled esp. now that I have tidied up the mess they/he/she left behind. I just feel lucky that it wasn't worse and that we've haven't lost anything valuable.

For those who are interested, the police weren't that surprised by the modus operandi - crowbarred the door. Apparently, these type of burglaries are not that uncommon. The fact that they didn't take electronics/ hardware might have been the fact that we lived in a block with other tenants and it would be quite difficult to escape with the loot inconspicuously esp. since we were on the top floor.

They also told us that sometimes they cover the peepholes of your neighbours' flats whilst they get through your front door. The other thing was that these breakins usually happens early to late afternoon and very seldom will they force themeslves in whilst you are sleeping.

I also wanted to write in because of how the police conducted themselves esp. since we don't speak much German AND that they responded so quickly. We had our car broken into in the UK and the response we got was them informing us, over the phone, of our police report number for insurance purposes. They didn't even bother to send anybody to see us!

jml - thanks for for your tips. We haven't told our neighbours yet- quite a few of them plus I need to figure out how to say it in German!!

Especially for a winter burglary.

wow, sorry you've been burgled, that's terrible
which part of munich do you live in?

if you have a lot of neighbours maybe you could just hang a notice up in the entrance? or write something down and put it in all the letterboxes. I'm sure they would want to know.

It was prob. the neighbors who buzzed them in...

What area of Munich did this happen in?
May be overkill but new webcams now come with built in security features that are activated by movement. You can set them up to take a picture or start recording, let you know via email and even email the picture to you. Also quite handy if you think your landlord is sneaking into your place without letting you know.

holy smokes - you got burgled in a flat and you're top floor? i assumed you were in a house, don't know why really. nervy bastards.

If you are on the top floor, there is less chance of being disturbed...

You should easily get them at Bauhaus or OBI. German for timer is 'Zeitschalter', however you should be fine by asking for a timer.
So far I've never been burgled, touch wood, but they also make me feel more secure when leaving the house for like more than half an hour.

A bit o/t: My mum got almost burgled last week. She lives in a ground floor flat and the w@&*%$s tried to get in by pushing up the (heavy German) blinds in front of the patio doors. They got disturbed by my mum, who was at home as it was like 2am. Coppers were really supportive and came to her house within 20 mins.

@saz: thanks for the translation, that sucks about your mom - hope she's ok - that must have been a terrible fright!

Ta.
She's fine now. Was obviously a bit shaken by the episode. Told her to train her cats as ersatz guard dogs.

We live on the third floor of a block with about 6 - 7 tenants on each floor (of which there are five). Our bedroom is a studio next to our place to which we knocked a hole in the wall and put in an internal door.
Anyway, we came home from the movies today and our "back door" (to the smaller flat) was open about 3 inches. Nothing is missing (that I can see), the cats were still in the house, I never use that door and there is no sign of forced entry. Either the cat tried to open the door (unlikely but possible for the tom) or mr DDBug bumped the handle when he was packing his ski gear last night, or someone popped the lock and saw the mess that is my bedroom and ran.
In any event, very unsettling after reading this thread. Especially not knowing what part of town this happened in.

@ Saz - Goodness! Your poor mum - 2am in the morning!! I am happy she is ok. I must admit that minutes after walking in to find the flat in that state and having realised that the laptops & cameras etc were not stolen, I thought that the burglars might still be in the flat. I don't know what possesed me but I shouted "Come out! You bastards". I don't know what I would have done if they were actually there as I was alone.

Anyway, I will be getting some 'Zeitschalter' plus a metal edge-plate for the door frame to prevent the door being levered / forced again. Times like this, I do wish there was Sunday shopping - could have got all that sorted today.

By the way, as a few of you have asked - we live in Schwabing, not very far from Munchener Freiheit station.

And the crime series fan that she is, never misses an episode of 'CSI' etc, she started pointing things out to the police. Like look there's a foot print in my flower bed, don't you need to take a cast? She actually admitted later they gave her a look as if she's gone bonkers. They probably put it down to shock. (Made me chuckle a little bit though.)
Anyway, there are big bolts you can get fitted on the inside on your front door and you'd be able to lock them from inside and outside. Can't remember what they're called though, but maybe you can get your landlord involved...?

EDIT: The bolts look like this... (He looks a bit shifty though. )

@Saz - Thanks for the tip about the bolts. I was just saying to hubby that we needed a deadbolt or something likt that. That thing wasn't quite what I'd envisaged - hmmm it certainly isn't something that would fit into the general decor of any home. The price for security!!

The bit about your Aunt made me laugh - I think policemen around the globe must curse the CSI series. However, when the detectives were trying to describe the person who would be coming to do the fingerprinting, I said, "Ah,..CSI!". It helped the language gap.

Although, when the guy came, he had a rather weary and wry smile when he said, " nooo..not quite like the CSI.." in response to my husband's facetious remark about him getting the fluorescent wand out. They must get that so much.

Well there you have it, one of the scummiest parts of Munich in my opinion.. walking down Feilitzschstr. (or Kebab street as i know it) in the evening, particularly at weekends it's littered with piss-heads and bling-youth.

That gold don't come cheap you know.

I realise this might be a strange thing to say, and it's not as a result of your burglery, but I have had the sense that Munich is going slowly downhill. Thank god it's far behind England in the crime front, but... when i was a lad...

Kt

sorry to hear about the buglary I can empathise since since similar has happened to me a couple times (not in Munich, though).

and (geez, I hope this doesn't sound alarmist) it does sound like profis, and sometimes profis will hit the same place repeatedly. first hit is to pick-up some easy items (cash, jewlery) and to scout the place, second hit (2-3 days later) is to get the big ticket items (computers, stereo). - at least that is what happened to me.

I do hope this is not the case here...

I was burglarized in the states. Not a nice feeling. But I did learn several things from it. First off if it was a forced entry, it was originally thought out before the robbery took place. Meaning nobody walks down the street with a crow bar for a reason. You live on the top floor also this states set-up before hand. Lab tops, computers, cameras, T.V.`s, I learned all stupid things, easy money things would be stolen if it was a kid. They don`t need a fence to sell this off and any friend who doesn`t have one will gladly buy it from them. Those are easy money items. However, if personal belongings, or money was taken, and then trashed the place to make it look like a robbery. THIS PERSON HAS BEEN IN YOUR HOUSE BEFORE!!! Now start thinking of everybody who was ever in your house, any person you ever told you had money in the house, believe me when I tell you this, it points to a friend.

I may aswell say it before anyone else does... Utter TOSH!

I highly doubt that it was a friend. No one knew we had money in the house. It wasn't something we normally have at home - it was a one off and it wasn't even Euros, it was pounds sterling! No one knew we had the cash...hmmm, could be that hubby staged this whole caper so he could spend this money illicitly since I do the finances for the household...

Seriously, I think we were just damn unlucky and naive to think that these things won't happen in Toytown. Lesson learnt - fortunately, the price we paid wasn't that high i.e. things we can't replace e.g. photos etc. I am backing up all my photos; ensuring my insurance is up to date; getting better locks...Hope all of you are doing the same.

I must say that the police and our insurance man were NOT that surprised it was just cash. Probably might have taken jewelery if we had any.

Just a quick word about buying and fitting extra deadbolts to your door, ala the picture from SAZ. If you install one, you have to use it for insurance purposes. If you don't use it and your place is burgled, your insurance doesn't have to pay to replace anything.

Reading this posts make me want to go get one of those Electro magnet type doors that have like 3000 lbs of holding power and require a car to drive thru it to open it (Without the code/card/key/fingerprint).. There only around 300 eur or so.