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Tuesday 23, May

17th century violin worth thousands lost on Berlin train

The violin case, with contents valued at over €100,000, was left behind on an ICE train from Berlin to Stuttgart.

Photo: Nadiia Ganzhyi / UnSplash

17th century violin worth thousands lost on Berlin train

If you’ve ever forgotten your phone on the train, you might know what this feels like. On Friday, a musician travelling from Berlin to Stuttgart left a 400-year old handcrafted violin on her ICE train.

The missing case also contained two violin bows worth more than €23,000.

It was only once she had gotten off at Stuttgart Central Station and the train was already on its way back to Berlin that the 59-year old musician realised she had left the instrument behind.

The violin is worth a whopping €100,000 and was handcrafted by master Italian violin maker Andrea Guarneri sometime in the 17th century. To make matters worse, the missing case also contained two violin bows worth more than €23,000.

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However, hope is not completely lost for the pricey instrument. According to Stuttgart police, the value of the violin case may not be obvious to a layperson who would have found it on the train, so it’s not a certainty that the contents of the violin case has been resold.