German Museum Employee Swaps Painting for Fake and Sells Original to Fund ‘Luxury Lifestyle’

A former employee of a German museum has been convicted of stealing valuable artworks, including replacing one painting with a fake and selling the original to fund a luxury lifestyle. The 30-year-old man, who worked at the Deutsches Museum in Munich from May 2016 to April 2018, confessed to stealing “Das Märchen vom Froschkönig” (The Tale of the Frog Prince) by Franz von Stuck and replacing it with a fake. He then sold the original at auction, falsely claiming it had belonged to his relatives.

The man also stole three other paintings, successfully selling two of them, and attempted to auction the third. He received a 21-month suspended sentence and was ordered to repay over 60,600 euros ($64,200) to the museum. The stolen artworks are now being sought for recovery, with one already in police possession.

The Munich District Court, in its press release on Monday, stated that the sentencing took into account that the man had confessed and shown “genuine remorse.” The court’s ruling mentioned that the man had claimed he acted without thinking and couldn’t explain his behavior today.

During his employment at the museum, the man stole “Das Märchen vom Froschkönig” and replaced it with a fake, which he later put up for auction. He lied to a Munich auction house, stating that the painting had belonged to his grandparents or great-grandparents. The original artwork was eventually sold to a Swiss gallery for 70,000 euros ($74,000), with the man receiving almost 50,000 euros ($52,000) in cash after auction fees were deducted.

He also successfully sold two other stolen paintings, “Die Weinprüfung” (The Wine Test) by Eduard von Grützner and “Zwei Mädchen beim Holzsammeln im Gebirge” (Two Girls Collecting Wood in the Mountains) by Franz von Defregger. One was sold via auction, and the other was purchased directly by the auction house, netting him an additional 11,490 euros ($12,184).

The man used the proceeds to pay off debts and fund a “luxurious lifestyle,” according to the court, which added that “the defendant shamelessly exploited the opportunity to access the storage rooms… and sold valuable cultural assets to secure a high standard of living for himself and to show off.”

In addition to the successful sales, the man attempted to auction off the third stolen painting, “Dirndl” by Franz von Defregger, at a different Munich auction house, but it did not sell.

The Munich District Court also noted that the auction house involved in the sales, Ketterer Kunst, had fulfilled its duty of care and had not been able to identify the artworks as stolen property. The Deutsches Museum is making efforts to recover the stolen paintings, with one of them already in police possession. The museum stated that the area from which the paintings were stolen is “basically sufficiently secured,” and it had conducted a background check on the man, who had no criminal record at the time.