The Stolen Turners - Kaiserdom
On the night of 28 July 1994, thieves locked inside the Schirn Kunsthalle beside this cathedral overpowered a guard and escaped with two Turners from London's Tate and a Caspar David Friedrich, insured for 70 million marks; three men went to prison, but it took nine years of secret talks to bring every painting home.
Sobre este lugar
The Kaiserdom of Saint Bartholomew is Frankfurt's most famous church, even though no bishop ever sat here. It earned its grand title through power: from 1356 the kings of the Holy Roman Empire were elected here, and between 1562 and 1792 ten coronations were held beneath its vaults. Its 95 metre red sandstone tower, begun by Madern Gerthener in 1415, only received its finished crown after a great fire in 1867. Just west of the cathedral stretches the long, narrow hall of the Schirn Kunsthalle, scene of Frankfurt's most famous art heist. On the night of 28 July 1994, thieves who had themselves locked inside the 'Goethe and Art' exhibition switched off the alarms, overpowered a guard and walked out with Turner's 'Shade and Darkness' and 'Light and Colour', both lent by the Tate, plus Caspar David Friedrich's 'Nebelschwaden' from Hamburg, together insured for 70 million marks. A Frankfurt court convicted three men in 1999, yet the canvases stayed missing until a secret negotiation through a Frankfurt lawyer brought them back between 2000 and 2003, leaving the Tate, already paid by its insurers, with millions to spare.
Datos clave
- 70 million DM — The insured value of the three paintings stolen from the Schirn's 'Goethe and Art' exhibition in July 1994.
- 11 years in prison — The sentence a Frankfurt court gave the ringleader in February 1999, while the paintings were still missing.
- 8 years — More than eight years passed before Turner's 'Light and Colour' finally came home to the Tate in December 2002.