In Search of the Truth: Detective Patrick Kurtz in the Offenbach-Post

An article by Eva-Maria Lill following an interview with Patrick Kurtz: Observations from a Frankfurt Detective Agency

“People may argue about taste in wallpaper. Intelligence is not up for debate. Private detective Patrick Kurtz hunts down fraudsters and criminals in Frankfurt. In doing so, he not only follows one of his role models in terms of office design: Sherlock Holmes.

 

Patrick Kurtz looks much younger than his furniture. He is 27, his display table an estimated hundred. On the polished wood stands a bottle of Ardbeg whisky, the black-red leather of the two-seater creaks. Patrick Kurtz’s light brogue Oxford shoes too. His office is a time machine for the lost. For those seeking help, the betrayed, the victims. Kurtz is a detective — one of about 75 in Frankfurt. He opened his first agency in Leipzig in early 2013. He now owns 28 agencies across Germany, including one in the Main metropolis since 2014.

 

We spoke with him about his profession, clichés, and enduring hours in a car. Occasion: Over the Pentecost weekend, ARD broadcast the fourth season of the British hit series Sherlock. Kurtz is a big fan — and with a pipe, MacBook, and DSLR, he embodies a modern version of the brilliant Holmes.”

On Real Detective Work in Frankfurt am Main

Offenbach-Post: “Mr Kurtz, do you meet many people with a false impression of your profession?”

 

Patrick Kurtz: “Certainly. This is mainly caused by television productions where investigators photograph innocents through living room windows and then get into fights.”

 

Offenbach-Post: “Everyday life in Frankfurt must be much less exciting.”

 

Patrick Kurtz: “It’s exciting in a different way. Physical altercations almost never happen. Perhaps once in a hundred cases. And we have to observe the law. Entering highly personal areas is prohibited — for example, photographing inside a house or car. If someone is having sexual intercourse in a car on a country lane, I cannot just zoom in and take pictures.”

 

Offenbach-Post: “What are you allowed to do, then?”

 

Patrick Kurtz: “In Germany, this is not clearly regulated by law; there is a need for updating. We have to examine current court rulings to understand what is permitted. Until a few years ago, it was common to use GPS trackers to create movement profiles. Then, in 2013, several rulings led to colleagues being sentenced to imprisonment. In principle, our client must have a legitimate interest in solving the case for us to act — after all, every investigation infringes on personal rights. Such interest exists, for example, with spouses who have a financial connection. But not if I want to spy on a girlfriend I’ve known for only two weeks out of jealousy.”

 

Offenbach-Post: “How is cooperation with the police?”

 

Patrick Kurtz: “Either we take on cases that do not reach the authorities at all, or we are engaged in parallel. Cooperation is often not easy. It varies from city to city. In Frankfurt, we have no problems. In Leipzig, it happened that officers felt their honour had been insulted and therefore did not follow up on our information.”

Case Types and Detective Fees

Offenbach-Post: “What kinds of cases do you mainly deal with?”

 

Patrick Kurtz: “Fraud. Privately, this is usually infidelity; commercially, it involves time-wasting or accounting fraud. Theft also occurs frequently.”

 

Offenbach-Post: “And in Frankfurt?”

 

Patrick Kurtz: “Frankfurt is a financial centre, so we are often engaged by companies. Moreover, people here can generally afford our services more than, for example, in the Ruhr region.”

 

Offenbach-Post: “So you are expensive?”

 

Patrick Kurtz: “Our hourly rate is €59. Gross for private clients, net for companies.”

 

Offenbach-Post: “So the typical client is well-off?”

 

Patrick Kurtz: “You could say that. But occasionally, there is also a pensioner who has saved for a long time to locate their family.”

Are Detective Observations Boring?

Offenbach-Post: “Since we are on clichés: cheaters are mostly men, right?”

 

Patrick Kurtz: “No. Men and women hire us about equally often. But we do not yet keep precise statistics on case numbers.”

 

Offenbach-Post: “How do you proceed when looking for a fraudster?”

 

Patrick Kurtz: “We generally observe and do not intervene. About eighty per cent of our time is spent on surveillance. Two-thirds of that in a car, one-third on foot. The rest is research in databases.”

 

Offenbach-Post: “Doesn’t that get boring over time?”

 

Patrick Kurtz: “Much of it is routine, yes. But we treat every assignment with the same seriousness — after all, it often involves matters of life and death for our clients.”

 

Offenbach-Post: “And the surveillance? Sitting in a car for hours…”

 

Patrick Kurtz: “I listen to audiobooks or radio dramas — I can concentrate and learn at the same time. If I get tired, I turn on faster rock music and turn it up.”

 

Offenbach-Post: “Don’t the residents notice?”

 

Patrick Kurtz: “I have only been spotted once. A target exited an apartment building during a mission, knocked on the window, and said we could stop our surveillance. Presumably, someone tipped off the suspect. We therefore had to come up with an alternative investigative method — and solved the case despite being compromised.”

“What makes a good Detective?”

Offenbach-Post: “How often are you successful?”

 

Patrick Kurtz: “It depends on the budget. If we can observe for two days, suspicions are confirmed in about 70 per cent of cases. If only a few hours are funded, the success rate is lower.”

 

Offenbach-Post: “What makes a good detective?”

 

Patrick Kurtz: “Intelligence and the ability to understand causal relationships. You must stay focused even when nothing happens for hours. Nerves of steel are crucial, and fitness is needed to withstand extreme heat or cold in a car. Opening a window is taboo — reflective glass makes it harder to be seen. And you must be able to lie convincingly to obtain information.”

 

Offenbach-Post: “And you can do that well?”

 

Patrick Kurtz: “I am skilled at finding creative solutions. The job suits me. I have smoked a pipe since I was 14 and devoured detective novels. I actually studied literature and had time between my bachelor’s and master’s degree. I saw a trainee offer at a detective agency. Nothing came of it. Inspired by the advertisement, I researched how to become a detective. In Germany, you only need a certificate of good conduct. Later, I attended the Security Academy in Berlin and completed a six-month IHK training — and then went freelance.”

 

Offenbach-Post: “Apparently successfully.”

From Sherlock Holmes to Shooting Practice in the Apartment

Patrick Kurtz: “In Germany, the detective profession is a one-person business. I employ six staff members and work with subcontractors.”

 

Offenbach-Post: “So you don’t just have a loyal Watson at your side?”

 

Patrick Kurtz: “I have many.”

 

Offenbach-Post: “Sherlock Holmes is your role model. What fascinates you?”

 

Patrick Kurtz: “Holmes is a realistically drawn fictional character. Even the Victorians believed he was real. When Doyle killed him in The Final Problem in 1893, London mourned. The genius lies in the idea that he can solve every crime — a mental Superman. Absurdly, he does not know whether the Earth revolves around the Sun or vice versa.”

 

Offenbach-Post: “Holmes’ main weapon is logic. Yours too?”

 

Patrick Kurtz: “Rarely, as most cases do not involve puzzles.”

 

Offenbach-Post: “And emotions? Holmes is not known for empathy…”

 

Patrick Kurtz: “I cannot just yell at people. Even when delivering bad news, I must not tear my hair out with joy over solving a case. Unlike the novels, that would not earn recognition — only a middle finger and a bad Google review.”

 

Offenbach-Post: “So you are not eccentric at all?”

 

Patrick Kurtz: “Well, in my old apartment I did once shoot at my wall with a pistol — like Sherlock. Of course, not with live ammunition (laughs).”

 

Offenbach-Post: “Excuse me?”

 

Patrick Kurtz: “It just happened. I wanted to practice shooting. Outside is prohibited, so I did it indoors. But to reassure you, I do not take drugs.”

 

Offenbach-Post: “If you are skilled with firearms, it can get dangerous?”

 

Patrick Kurtz: “Sometimes people threaten us afterward. Once, colleagues were genuinely terrified. They were hired by a Kurdish family to locate their adult daughter. After finding her, they had to ask if they could share her address. She began to cry and admitted she was afraid of her family because she was in a relationship with a non-Muslim German. The colleagues followed their moral compass and did not reveal it. Suddenly, a group of people formed a circle around them and threatened them. Fortunately, it ended without serious harm.”

Patrick Kurtz’ Favourite Holmes

Offenbach-Post: “If you could choose a Holmes from an adaptation as your boss, which one would it be?”

 

Patrick Kurtz: “Oh dear. I do not like to submit and would not give in easily like Watson. Trouble would be inevitable.”

 

Offenbach-Post: “But your favourite Holmes — you can reveal that?”

 

Patrick Kurtz: “Certainly. First, Jeremy Brett from the 1980s Granada series. Second, Benedict Cumberbatch from the BBC series airing on ARD over Pentecost. Brett portrayed Holmes as closely as possible to Doyle’s original stories — a thinker and speaker. Doyle’s Holmes is an eccentric in the original. Cumberbatch turned him into a sociopath. He reinvented the character.”

Note

Some quotes may not be original statements from Patrick Kurtz. In particular, he did not claim that Kurtz Detective Agency previously used GPS trackers; he said that their use was common in the industry.

 

The original article from the Offenbach-Post was published at:

https://www.op-online.de/region/frankfurt/suche-nach-wahrheit-frankfurter-detektiv-patrick-kurtz-8369021.html.

Kurtz Detective Agency Frankfurt

c/o AT Büro Center

Mainzer Landstraße 341

60326 Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Tel.: +49 69 1201 8431

E-Mail: kontakt@kurtz-detektei-frankfurt.de

Web: https://www.kurtz-detektei-frankfurt.de/en

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