16/08/2026
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16/08/2026
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BRUSSELS, Aug 16: A routine summer job at a Belgian construction site turned into a multimillion-euro discovery for an 18-year-old student who unearthed a hidden hoard of gold estimated to be worth around €9 million.
The student, identified only as Kobe, was working with colleagues on Tuesday at the site of a former brewery on Van Langenhovestraat in Sint-Gillis-Dendermonde, about 30 kilometers northwest of Brussels, when the workers came across what initially appeared to be ordinary coins.
“We suddenly saw something lying there,” Kobe told Belgian broadcaster VTM. He said he initially believed they had found €1 coins before the workers began digging and discovered a gold bar.
The discovery turned out to be far more valuable than they had expected.
Gold hidden inside a cellar wall
The hoard reportedly consists of gold coins, nuggets and numbered bullion bars that had been concealed inside a bag in a bricked-in cellar wall beneath a large villa originally built for brewery owner Theophilus Van Assche in the late 19th century.
Kobe said the gold appeared to have been deliberately hidden rather than accidentally left behind.
“It’s just not something you expect when you’re working on a regular Tuesday morning,” he said, describing how the treasure had been sealed behind brickwork rather than stored in a conventional safe.
The property, known as the Brouwershuis, was associated with a brewery that began operating at the site in 1899. Brewing continued there until 1970.
The listed building is now undergoing a major renovation by social welfare organisation CAW Oost-Vlaanderen, which plans to transform the property into offices and housing.
Workers discovered treasure during drainage work
CAW representative Geert Hillaert told Belgian news outlet HLN that the historic building is being extensively renovated, with only its walls expected to remain.
Workers were installing drainage pipes when they unexpectedly encountered the hidden gold.
After discovering the hoard, Kobe and his colleagues immediately contacted police and informed CAW officials rather than attempting to keep the treasure.
The gold has since been transferred to a secure facility in Brussels while authorities investigate its origin and determine who legally owns it.
Ownership could trigger legal dispute
Authorities must establish whether the gold was legitimately acquired and hidden by the former brewery owners or whether it could have been stolen property or connected to criminal activity.
Hanne Ollevier of the East Flanders public prosecutor’s office said the discovery could ultimately lead to a complicated civil dispute over ownership.
Potential claims could involve the construction contractors, the organisation responsible for the renovation and descendants of the Van Assche family.
Under Belgian law, potential owners have a period of at least five years to claim treasure that has been discovered.
Former Dendermonde mayor Piet Buyse said the discovery could be linked to the wealth of the Van Assche family, suggesting that the family may have invested some of its fortune in gold and hidden it in a secure location.
Student hopes for a finder's reward
Despite the enormous potential value of the discovery, Kobe said he and his colleagues understood that such a large treasure had to be handed over to the authorities.
“If it had been a few coins, maybe not,” he said, adding that he hoped the workers could eventually receive some form of finder's reward.
Authorities will now examine the bullion, coins and other items, investigate their history and determine whether any legitimate heirs or other parties can establish ownership.
For the student, what began as an ordinary Tuesday morning digging trenches for a sewage system has turned into one of the most extraordinary discoveries of his summer job.
