The most valuable items are in the palace’s historic section on the ground floor.
Police said a car found to be burning in Dresden early on Monday may have been the getaway vehicle set ablaze by the burglars.
The treasures include a figure of a moor studded with emeralds and a 648-carat sapphire – a royal gift from Russia’s Tsar Peter the Great.
Saxony’s minister-president, Michael Kretschmer, voiced outrage at the crime, saying “not only were the state art collections burgled, but the people of Saxony too”.
“The valuables housed in the Green Vault and Residenzschloss were acquired by people in the Saxony Free State with difficulty, over many centuries.” He said the collection was an integral part of Saxony’s history.
The Green Vault collection is housed in eight ornate rooms. Three were destroyed by Allied bombing in World War Two, but after the war, the museum was restored to its previous glory. The collection was founded by Augustus the Strong in 1723. He was Elector of Saxony (a German prince entitled to take part in the election of the emperor) and later King of Poland.
There are about 3,000 items of jewellery and other treasures decorated with gold, silver, ivory and pearl.
One of the most valuable jewels is a 41-carat green diamond currently on show in New York.
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