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Probe walking is attracting more and more people. But the appeal comes with dangers. Unknown perpetrators destroyed a cultural monument in East Hesse. There is a risk of high fines.
Friedewald – “Probing”, i.e. searching for metallic objects in the ground with metal detectors, is gaining more and more fans. Many people feel a special “kick” when they discover hidden treasures, writes the State Office for Monument Protection Hesse and the East Hesse police.
People are often motivated by the search for valuable or ancient objects, such as coins or historical artifacts. However, what begins as a harmless hobby can quickly have legal consequences, especially if digging is carried out without permission, the press release says.
Expensive treasure hunt: detectorists destroy a cultural monument in Hesse
A current case illustrates the problem: In the fall of 2025, unknown persons caused considerable damage to an archaeologically important site on Dreienberg in the municipality of Friedewald in the Hersfeld-Rotenburg district. They left behind an “irretrievably destroyed part of the monument”.
The perpetrators searched with a metal probe in a medieval ruin, probably in the Dreienburg castle ruins, also known as the Alter Keller. “They apparently suspected a find at a point below the masonry and set out to search with heavy tools and without regard to the substance of the cultural monument.”
“They dug a hole almost one meter deep and more than half a meter in diameter,” it said. The State Office for Monument Preservation and the police do not currently know whether they found what they were looking for. What remained, however, were packaging material from the metal probe and a broken handle from a digging tool.
Information on probing in Hesse
According to the police and the Hessian State Office for Monument Protection, probing is not generally prohibited in Hesse, but is subject to strict legal requirements and requires official approval. Objects found must be reported and may be subject to the treasury shelf.
In addition to criminal law risks, there is the risk of irretrievably destroying valuable historical information. Without professional documentation, archaeological finds lose their scientific value. “Interest in history and hidden treasures must not lead to cultural monuments being damaged or crimes being committed.”
The police and the Hesse State Office for Monument Preservation do not view such acts as trivial offenses. “We are talking about crimes such as the embezzlement of archaeological finds or damaging property that is harmful to the public,” explains Chief Detective Christian Stahl, who is leading the investigation.
“The Hessian Monument Protection Act also punishes violations such as the unauthorized search for archaeological finds with fines of up to half a million euros,” adds district archaeologist Dr. Eveline Hall. “Identified suspects must expect apartment searches, the confiscation of their often high-quality equipment and claims for damages,” said the police spokesman.
Police secure traces of the items left behind
In the Friedewald case, the police secured traces of the items left behind that could lead to the identification of a suspect. “We are now evaluating these traces and storing them in our database. Even if we may not be able to identify a perpetrator at the moment, there is still the possibility that we can assign the traces to a specific person at a later date and thus solve the crime,” explains the chief inspector.
According to the information, the damage was discovered on September 4, 2025. The investigation into embezzlement of archaeological finds and damaging property that is harmful to the public continues. However In the summer of 2025, a missing wedding ring was found in Burghaun after 50 years thanks to a metal probe been.
