The Detective Through the Ages – Part 1: Eugène François Vidocq

Eugène François Vidocq

The profession of private detective has a long and eventful history, and it is certainly worth taking a closer look at how the work, field, and reputation of detectives have evolved over time – especially the latter, which for a long period in some countries was far from honourable. Although the history of private spies and agents is probably almost as old as humanity itself, it was not until well into the 19th century that the first office comparable to a modern private detective agency, such as the Kurtz Detective Agency Bonn, was established. Not in England, as one might assume, but in France in 1833, when Le bureau des renseignements (“Information Bureau”) was founded, recognised as the world’s first detective office.

From Rogue to Lawman: Vidocq’s Rise as a Detective and His Mastery of the Social Milieu

The founder of this first detective bureau, a colourful figure with a turbulent life, was intimately familiar with the shadowy, secretive, and illegal world – having been part of it himself for many years. Eugène François Vidocq (1775–1857) was occasionally involved in petty thefts as a child, served in the French army as an adult, and gained a reputation through various (apparently successful) duels, scams, and romantic entanglements, which repeatedly led to pursuit, escape, and imprisonment. Tired of life on society’s margins, he decided to turn the tables: from then on, he would stand on the side of the law, while remaining loyal to his milieu.

 

As an informant and secret agent in the service of the police, and later as the founder and head of an initially unofficial security brigade of the Paris police, Vidocq stayed close to the underworld, both in prisons and on the streets. He knew the milieu intimately, was familiar with its hotspots, and for a long time was regarded by many criminals as one of their own. Recognising that successful investigations require a thorough understanding of the environment, he frequently employed former criminals who maintained his direct link to the Parisian underworld. However, some of these questionable detectives were not as reformed as Vidocq, and crimes committed by police personnel occurred regularly. These incidents and other “irregularities” increasingly damaged Vidocq’s reputation with the authorities, leading him in 1832 to resign definitively from his official position. With the subsequent founding of his detective bureau, he was no longer bound to his former superiors and could devote himself fully to his new enterprise with his employees – again, mostly former criminals – fighting swindlers and fraudsters for private and business clients: essentially exactly what the detectives of the Kurtz Detective Agency Bonn still do today, albeit using strictly legal means.

Revolutionising Criminal Investigation Techniques

Not only modern detectives but also the police still rely on methods introduced by Vidocq: the strategy of using undercover investigators, “plainclothes patrols” to avoid detection, and card index systems were all first employed by Vidocq in his investigations – and soon adopted beyond the French police. He also revolutionised investigations that today would be considered “forensic work”: examining crime scenes for evidence, conducting ballistics tests, reconstructing crime scenes with known criminals, and even pioneering work in the then-largely unknown field of fingerprints, or dactyloscopy – a field that would only gain recognition decades later. All of these practices are now relatively standard worldwide in detective and law enforcement work, but at the time, they were highly innovative.

Vidocq’s First Detective Office, Kurtz Detective Agency Bonn, Detective in Bonn, Private Detective from Bonn

Portrait of Vidocq

“Father of All Detectives” Inspires the Arts

Although Vidocq can be seen as the father of the modern detective and of criminology in general, recognition – especially in his native France – was slow to come due to his criminal past. And with strict lawfulness, let alone IHK-certified training like that of the Kurtz detectives in Bonn, Vidocq was never entirely aligned: the line between legality and illegality was often blurred for him and his detectives, many of whom, like him, had a criminal background. This led to repeated conflicts with the Paris police, occasional imprisonment, but also public attention and a certain notoriety. He became an inspiration for various fictional characters by his friend Honoré de Balzac, and figures inspired by him also appear in works by Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas, both part of his social circle. For example, both the protagonist of Hugo’s Les Misérables, Jean Valjean (most recently portrayed in 2012 by Hugh Jackman), and the antagonist Javert (Russel Crowe) are modelled on Vidocq’s life and character.

 

Ultimately, Vidocq’s detective bureau laid the foundation for private individuals to seek assistance when they felt defrauded – people whom the authorities could not help but who still wanted justice or simply to “be on the safe side.” This had never been done before in history and quickly proved a successful model, from which the modern private detective and detective profession evolved. At the Kurtz Detective Agency Bonn, we continue this tradition in a modern and lawful form, paying tribute to the man who, almost 200 years ago, laid the groundwork for our work today.

“The Detective Through the Ages” – Part 2

The second part of the series The Detective Through the Ages can be found here.

Author: Gerrit Koehler

 

Kurtz Detective Agency Bonn

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