The unopened safe of the Tătărescu House

What is known for certain

The safe is in the Prime Minister’s study, next to the window.¹ It is built into the wall and has two doors, a large one above and a small one below, each with a handle and a lock plate. On the upper door there is a painted emblem, and above it a brass plate with the maker’s name: Fichet.

The current owners have not opened it since they took over the house in 2024. The specialists they consulted told them that the safe could only be opened by cutting it and then welding it back together. The owners refused, so as not to destroy it: “it would be a shame to lose its mystery”.¹²

Fichet, the maker

Fichet is a French safe company with a history of almost two centuries:³⁴

• 1825: Alexandre Fichet opens his workshop in Paris.
• 1829: he patents a lock that cannot be opened with a lock pick.
• 1840: he builds the first modern steel safe, resistant to fire.

In 1920, Fichet set up a branch in Romania, with a factory in Bucharest.³⁵ In interwar Bucharest, the company built strongboxes and safe installations.⁶ Later, in 1967, it merged with Bauche, and today it operates under the name Fichet Security Solutions.⁴

Some press articles claim that Fichet is a Swiss company. It is not: the company is French, but it also had a branch in Geneva.³

How long has it been closed?

No source gives a documented date. Several versions circulate:

• “Since 1944”, the version used in the house tour.
• “It dates from 1910”, a statement by the owner to Antena 3, without a source.²
• “82 years”, the wording in the title of the same report.²
• Opened and X-rayed at some point, perhaps broken open during communism, the version given by the owner in another interview.¹

The house received its building permit in 1935. If the safe really were from 1910, it would be a quarter of a century older than the house. No source confirms this.

Three stories about whose it was

Three stories circulate about the safe’s provenance, and they exclude one another:

1. The Prime Minister’s. The safe in Gheorghe Tătărescu’s study is said to have belonged to him personally. This is what the press wrote in 2026.²
2. An officer’s, from 1944. The story appeared in the house’s presentation materials, accompanied by an explicit note that no one can confirm it.
3. Left behind by a Nazi general. This version circulated in 2024, in several almost identical articles published a few minutes apart.⁷

None of them has a document behind it. The only certain thing is the place: the study of a Prime Minister of interwar Romania.

How its age can be established without opening it

Fichet engraved the serial number of each safe on the edge of the door, and the numbers increase with the years of manufacture. A Belgian dealer in Fichet safes has published the correspondence table:⁸

Years of manufacture	Serial numbers
1909–1914	108,120 – 134,950
1934–1935	244,654 – 248,326
1944–1945	276,296 – 277,086

A number between 244,654 and 248,326 would mean that the safe was bought in the years the house was built (building permit issued in 1935). A number below 134,950 would confirm the “1910” version. So far, the number of this safe has not been read publicly.

What it might contain

Nobody knows. The reports speak of documents, jewellery or “the memories of another era”, but this is only speculation.² The owner says he prefers to remain “with the impression that it is a treasure”. He also states that anything found inside would be handed over to the state.¹

Where you can see it

The safe is one of the highlights of the house’s guided tour, along with the Premier’s Library, the Cigar Lounge and the poker room. For the man in whose study it stands, see Gheorghe Tătărescu.

Notes and sources

1. „Exclusiv: misterul seifului imposibil de deschis din vila Gh. Tătărescu” [Exclusive: the mystery of the safe that cannot be opened in the Gh. Tătărescu villa], B365, 26 January 2026. b365.ro ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

2. „Misterul seifului din București nedeschis de 82 de ani” [The mystery of the Bucharest safe unopened for 82 years], Antena 3 CNN, 27 January 2026. antena3.ro ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

3. „Histoire Fichet” [History of Fichet], fichet.be. fichet.be ↩ ↩² ↩³

4. „Fichet-Bauche” [Fichet-Bauche], Wikipedia (English). en.wikipedia.org ↩ ↩²

5. „Fichet” [Fichet], Wikimaginot glossary. wikimaginot.eu ↩

6. „Cum s-a dezvoltat economic Bucureștiul în perioada interbelică” [How Bucharest developed economically in the interwar period], Historia. historia.ro ↩

7. Article of 24 September 2024, republished almost identically by several websites, Fabrica de Știri. fabricadestiri.ro ↩

8. „Coffre-fort Fichet: identification” [Fichet safe: identification], safehdf.be. safehdf.be ↩