In his upcoming lecture at the Käthe Kollwitz Museum on 23 January 2025, René Allonge will provide exciting insights into the everyday life of an art investigator. He will report on extraordinary cases from his career, including the conviction of art forger Wolfgang Beltracchi, the investigation into the burglary of the Bode Museum with the theft of the 100kg gold coin ‘Großes Ahornblatt’ and the art heist in Gotha in 1979, which culminated in the recovery of the stolen Old Master paintings.
Image above: René Allonge.
The criminal trade has existed as long as art has existed or been traded in. 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 artworks and the thieves. But how do you become an art investigator and how do the investigators work?

René Allonge has been chief investigator for art crime at the LKA Berlin since 2009 and is one of the most renowned art investigators in Germany. One of his best-known cases is the discovery of the Walking Horses by Nazi sculptor Josef Thorak, which were once displayed in front of Adolf Hitler’s Reich Chancellery in Berlin and disappeared from a barracks site in Eberswalde in 1989.
The collection presentation will remain open until 7 pm.
WHEN?
Thursday, 23 January 2025, 7 pm
The lecture will be held in German.
WHERE?
Käthe Kollwitz
Spandauer Damm 10
14059 Berlin
COSTS?
Admission: 8 EUR, reduced: 5 EUR