After a painting was stolen from a museum in Bielefeld at the end of April, the police announced on Wednesday that a 31-year-old woman from Hamburg turned herself in in May and confessed to the theft. The mystery of the missing painting has apparently not yet been solved, which is why the police are now looking for witnesses in the Hanseatic city. The woman claims to have lost the "Portrait of a Young Woman" by the Dutch painter Pieter Aertsen in the Hamburg neighborhood.
The 31-year-old stole Aertsen's work from a museum in Ravensberger Park in Bielefeld on April 27. She had separated the picture from 1561 from its wooden frame and taken it with her. The case caused a nationwide sensation because the act happened in broad daylight and the thief had committed the art theft particularly brazenly.
According to the Bielefeld officials, the alleged thief turned herself in to the police in Hamburg in mid-May. During her interrogation, she stated that she had already lost the painting on the evening of the day after she had placed it in a suitcase in front of a shop in Hamburg's Kiez.
In the subsequent police measures, clothing - including a wig - was secured, which the woman was associated with the crime, the Bielefeld police have now announced. At this point, the crime is considered to be largely clear. However, the motive of the 31-year-old, to which she is silent, remains mysterious – as well as the whereabouts of the painting.
The almost 500-year-old work could not be found either during a search of the 31-year-old's Hamburg apartment or in the apartment of one of her friends in Warendorf, Westphalia. The Bielefeld criminal police are therefore asking: Who can provide information on the whereabouts of the painting? Witnesses should contact the investigating police department on 0521/545-0 with information.
The value of the painting cannot be precisely estimated. However, the head of the cultural department of the city of Bielefeld speaks of a great immaterial value. A large part of Pieter Aertsen's art was lost in wars. The "Portrait of a Young Woman" has been on view in Bielefeld since 2020.
