Private Detectives in Germany – A Turbulent History | Overview by Kurtz Detective Agency Wuppertal

Questionable Reputation of Detectives in the Early Years

The history of private detectives in Wuppertal and throughout Germany is highly complex. Following the first appearance of detective agencies in the mid-20th century, a growth industry gradually developed which expanded significantly after the First World War. According to an official business census, by 1925 there were already 1,321 detective agencies within the territory of the Weimar Republic, in addition to a large number of detective associations. As no state-regulated entry requirements were attached to the profession then any more than now, detectives in the Bergisches Land and nationwide had a questionable reputation during the 1920s. Among the reputable investigators were numerous black sheep who, in the style of American crime films of the 1940s, regularly made headlines because they were guilty of extortion, perjury, the use of violence and numerous other criminal offences in the course of their supposed detective activities.

Rogue Detectives Damage the Industry

Consequently, as early as the beginning of the 1920s, calls arose for state-regulated professional requirements for detectives in Wuppertal and throughout the country. Unfortunately, such a measure has never been implemented to this day by any government under any of the changing forms of state. At least since 1920, however, a prohibition on trade can be imposed on the respective detective agency if sufficient grounds exist, namely proven legal violations. The fact that the private investigator represented a necessary support to the investigative authorities, which were already understaffed at that time, was recognised even then. However, insufficient expertise, a dubious reputation and a lack of legal certainty rendered the German detective virtually unusable as a witness during this phase. As a result, there was considerable negative press, which professional associations attempted to counter by repeatedly but unsuccessfully requesting licensing of the detective industry from the government. The general recommendation at the time was to rely on academics or former criminal police officers in order to avoid encountering so-called "rogue detectives". This remains good advice today – even if questionable exceptions such as the Cobra affair can occur even among former criminal police officers – and the detectives of Kurtz Detective Agency Wuppertal include both recommended "types".

General Professional Ban for Private Detectives in the GDR

After the incorporation of private investigations into state organisations in the Third Reich, the detective industry achieved social re-establishment in what later became the Federal Republic of Germany at the end of the war, although licensing procedures that had previously been enforced for short periods were definitively abandoned with the entry into force of the Basic Law on 23 May 1949. Meanwhile, in the Soviet Occupation Zone there was a general professional ban on detectives, which prompted many to move to the West before the construction of the Berlin Wall, particularly to North Rhine-Westphalia, and some also came to Wuppertal as detectives.

Author: Gerrit Koehler

 

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