Violinist leaves €2.4m Stradivarius on German train

Woman alerted police after realising she left instrument on luggage rack

File photograph of a Stradivarius violin. Photograph: Reuters
File photograph of a Stradivarius violin. Photograph: Reuters

An American violinist who left her $2.6 million (€2.4m) 1727 Stradivarius in the luggage rack on a regional train in western Germany was “more than relieved”, police said, when officers retrieved it one minute before it left the station.

The woman, who police described as being in her 20s, left the ‘General Dupont Grumiaux’ edition of the famous violin brand on a train travelling on Tuesday from Mannheim to Saarbruecken in western Germany, where she alighted.

Realising her error after leaving the train, she alerted the police. One minute before the train, heading back to Mannheim departed, police found the violin in the last section of the carriage concerned and returned it to the woman.

After checking that the instrument was not damaged, she was “more than relieved”, police said in a statement.

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Reuters