Berlin thief shows heart in surprising act of kindness

In a Facebook post from Monday, a journalist for a newspaper in Bavaria describes how his stolen wallet was returned to him through the post with a heart inside.

Under the headline ‘heartfelt thanks’, Anton Sahlender describes how he was sitting in a cafe near Berlin’s central station when his wallet disappeared earlier in May.

But to his surprise he received an anonymous package through the post which contained the stolen item.

“Not a single card or form of ID was missing. Only the cash was missing.”

“The anonymous sender also put in a thumbnail sized metal heart - perhaps a sign of thanks.”

“The person who stole from me needed the money more than me - it wasn’t just a heartless person,” the 66-year-old journo told Berlin daily Tagesspiegel, explaining that €250 had been taken.

Commenters below the Facebook post remarked on how such a contradictory act fitted with the German capital.

“That’s what it’s like in Berlin, always a bit different,” said one.

But another remarked that on a recent trip to the capital he had had his wallet stolen at a currywurst stand and hadn’t seen hide nor hair of it since.

There have been several media reports recently that street theft has been on the rise in Berlin, in touristic areas such as Kreuzberg.

Meanwhile in March a local politician told The Local officers were “overwhelmed” by criminality in Alexanderplatz.