Fact Check: Was 50-Gallon 'Ball of Gin' Stolen From Bottom of Swiss Lake?

Everyone thinks they know the best place to hide presents before Christmas, whether it be a garden shed, the back of the closet, or even inside a giant steel ball in a Swiss lake.

Now, that last method might be out of the bag, after a team of thieves reportedly stole an 800 kg steel sphere full of gin, hidden underwater and due to be shipped for the holidays.

Confused? So were we, with few details of what a gin ball was, how it went missing, and crucially, whether the whole thing was a publicity stunt or even completely made up.

The Claim

A tweet posted on Sunday claimed that an 800 kg ball of gin was stolen from the bottom of a lake.

The story, which was also shared on Reddit and Telegram, included a photo of a large steel ball pulled from a harbor.

The Facts

The story is curious both for its offbeat nature and lack of detail, including what an underwater gin ball actually is.

It's a particularly obscure practice, with little information either from the company behind it, Ginial, or from gin enthusiasts worldwide.

An interview from 2021 with producer Jenny Strohmeier describes how the gin is rested for 100 days at the bottom of Lake Constance in Switzerland, under two bars of pressure within the steel ball (although little detail is given as to what effect, if any, it has on its contents).

As to the alleged theft of this ball, while the detail in the social media posts and some of the accompanying articles is somewhat thin, local police told Newsweek that the story was true.

"This is a special story, indeed," said a spokesman for Thurgau Police, Switzerland.

"The gin ball is still missing. The investigation is going on. We can confirm that on December 10, the theft was reported.

"It is about a metal ball filled with gin that was attached to the ground of Lake Constance, offshore the city of Romanshorn.

"Police divers from Thurgau Cantonal Police have secured traces at the sea floor; the investigations are underway.

"It is pretty clear that the sphere with a weight of approximately eight hundred kilograms, with its concrete base, must have been taken away 'by human hand,' a natural cause (waves for example) is very unlikely.

"So far, the gin ball has not been found, nor have any suspects been arrested. Nevertheless our detectives are still optimistic."

Ginial, which produces the Lake Constance gin, has left several references to the incident on its website although the only full statement can be found under a product page.

"Unfortunately we have to inform you that our gin ball has been stolen from the lake," it says.

"It is incomprehensible to us that something like this happens and that there are such brazen people who do something like this.

"A report to the police has already been made.

"We will contact anyone who has already ordered and paid for one or more bottles.
Of course, we try everything to get the ball back."

Members of the media visited Ginial's manufacturers, based in Romanshorn in the Swiss canton of Thurgau, to interview Strohmeier and diver Marcel Schmid, as shown in the video below.

Newsweek has contacted Ginial for comment.

The Ruling

True.

Social media posts give little detail about how an 800 kg gin ball actually went missing (or what exactly a gin ball even is). However, according to a statement provided to Newsweek by Swiss police, this unusual item has indeed been reported missing.

Police say they have found traces of the ball at the lake bed it was stolen from, and are certain the disappearance was not through natural causes, such as underwater currents. Officers say the investigation is ongoing, although there have been no arrests yet.

FACT CHECK BY Newsweek's Fact Check team.