18.10.2026 16:01
A 16-year-old girl in Germany found a gold bar weighing about 500 grams at the bottom of a lake while swimming. The young girl handed the gold, worth approximately 18,500 dollars, to the police and waited six months for its owner to be found. However, when no one came forward, the bar was legally given to her. How the gold ended up in the lake remains a mystery. The incident, which occurred in 2015, has resurfaced in foreign media.
A 16-year-old girl vacationing with her family at Lake Königssee in Germany's Bavaria state noticed a shiny object about 2 meters below the water while swimming.
Overcome by curiosity, the young girl dove into the water and was astonished to see that the object she brought up was not an ordinary piece of metal but a gold bar.
The young girl's behavior of handing the approximately half-kilogram bar to the police instead of taking it with her was cited as an example by authorities.
THE SERIAL NUMBER ON THE GOLD WAS EXAMINED
Police teams launched an investigation to reach the gold's rightful owner. The history and serial number of the bar, which bears the Degussa brand, were taken under examination.
In the investigations conducted by the German criminal police, it was stated that the identification number on the bar had previously been erased, but experts managed to make the number visible again.
Nevertheless, no connection between the gold and any crime could be identified, and its rightful owner could not be reached.
NO ONE CLAIMED IT FOR 6 MONTHS
Under German law, a certain waiting period is applied so that the rightful owners of found valuables can file a claim.
The gold bar that the young girl handed to the police was also kept for 6 months. However, during this period, no one came forward to prove that the gold belonged to them.
Thereupon, the authorities transferred ownership of the approximately 500-gram bar to the young girl who found it.
HOW THE GOLD ENDED UP IN THE LAKE IS STILL UNKNOWN
How the gold reached the bottom of the lake became the most remarkable detail of the incident. It could not be determined whether the bar was dropped accidentally or deliberately placed in the water by someone.
Thanks to the young girl's honesty, the gold handed to the police was given back to her after its owner could not be found.
IT EMERGED THAT THE INCIDENT HAPPENED 10 YEARS AGO
It was determined that the incident, which was reported in the news again in recent days, actually occurred on August 7, 2015, and the gold was given to the young girl in 2016. Current publications in the German press brought this extraordinary incident that happened years ago back to the agenda. Therefore, the development is not a new gold discovery but rather the re-reporting of an event that happened in the past.