LECTURE
on January 23, 2025
at 19:00
Entrance 8,00 euros | reduced 5,00 euros
The collection presentation
can be visited until
the start of the lecture at 19:00.
Insights into the work of German art investigators or How to get to the bottom of art forgers.
A special evening with a special topic! Our guest is Berlin chief detective René Allonge: he convicts forgers and art thieves.
Ever since art has existed or been traded in, the criminal trade has also existed. Even works by Käthe Kollwitz were forged during her lifetime and beyond. In recent years, spectacular art thefts and art forgeries have repeatedly made headlines. In these cases, the expertise and know-how of art investigators is required to track down the stolen works of art and the thieves. But how do you become an art investigator and how do the investigators work?
René Allonge gives an insight into the everyday life of an art investigator and presents some unusual cases. The best-known cases of the special unit led by René Allonge include the conviction of international art forger Wolfgang Beltracchi, the discovery of the Walking Horses by Nazi sculptor Josef Thorak and the diaries of John Lennon, the investigation of the break-in at the Bode Museum, in which the 100-kilogram gold coin “Big Maple Leaf” was stolen, as well as the investigation of the Gotha art heist from 1979 and the discovery of the stolen Old Master paintings.
In an interview for arte magazine in November 2022, the experienced art investigator said: “I walk through a museum with different eyes. Art investigators immediately look for security devices; we are equipped with a professional skepticism.”
We look forward to an inspiring evening!
Born in the GDR in 1973, René Allonge began his career in 1992 in the senior ranks of the Berlin criminal investigation department. After studying at the Berlin School of Economics and Law, he became an investigator in the organized property crime division of the Berlin State Criminal Police Office in 1997. Since 2009, he has been chief investigator for art crime at the Berlin State Criminal Police Office and is one of the most renowned art investigators in Germany.
Two documentaries are recommended for anyone who is interested in the topic and would like to find out more in advance of the lecture:
Transport of the Thorak horses by the technical relief organisation (THW), photo: René Allonge