When the elderly gentleman from the southern Italian province of Taranto got off the train at around 10:30 in the evening at Munich Central Station on January 21, almost two years ago, everything was probably going through his head. But it is not certain that what he has with him in one of his two suitcases will bring the German criminal police a good bit further on their way into the digital age. Especially since the luggage wrapped in foam is already 2,400 years old. The Corinthian helmet then protected the head of a Greek soldier. The man could certainly use the bronze defense in the civil war-like skirmishes in his hometown of Kroton – now Crotone in Calabria – which were common at the time.
The helmet brings a lot of annoyance to his late descendants. Because less than eleven hours later the European trip of the then 77-year-old Italian comes to an abrupt end: Before he can get on the train that is supposed to take him to Belgium, the handcuffs of the art investigators of the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office (BLKA) click. The man from Apulia, who describes himself as a “businessman and trader”, is, according to the conviction of the criminal police and the public prosecutor, a professional art smuggler – and the helmet, which is valued at around 20,000 euros, is a cultural asset that Italy would never have are allowed to leave.
Almost two years later, the now 79-year-old is waiting for his trial before the lay judge at the Munich district court. And the helmet is still in the evidence room of the BLKA art investigators in Barbarastraße. Nobody has reclaimed him so far. Despite its good state of preservation, it does not come from a museum, but from one of those robbery excavations that were done by specialized local gangs. Often the Calabrian mafia organization ‘Ndrangheta is behind it, but its bosses do not want to get their hands dirty in the illegal trade in protected art. Not at all when digging.
The app compares the find with photos that are stored in a database
So far, the helmet from ancient “Magna Graecia” (Greater Greece) has not made it into a museum showcase. But at least he can help make the difficult hunt for stolen, illegally traded or forged archaeological finds a little more comfortable for the German police.
Funded with half a million euros by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, the Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology (SIT) has developed an app that ideally should be able to clarify within seconds whether it is, for example, with vases or sculptures, the police officers or customs officers discovered in a suitcase or trunk searched by them, it was a matter of counterfeiting or genuine antique objects and whether the owner was transporting the antique objects legally. The project is called “KIKu” – the cute abbreviation stands for “Artificial Intelligence for the Protection of Cultural Property”.
Before KIKu can take part in border controls, veil searches and raids, the app must first be tested – ideally on objects whose background is already known. Investigators can quickly determine how reliably their future digital partner will work in an emergency. In addition to nine other agencies nationwide, the six BLKA art investigators from Munich with their boss Christian Klein are also taking part in the test phase. And the helmet from Calabria, which the alleged smuggler may have wanted to monetize in Belgium.
The find was photographed with the smartphone from all possible angles and perspectives. The KIKu app then sent the images to a SIT server. There they are automatically compared with photos that are stored in a database.
The app should also recognize objects from non-European cultures
The aim is to find similarities between the photographed object and already known cultural treasures. “Corinthian helmet from southern Italy, 4th or 3rd century BC” would then be an important reference for investigators in an emergency. All the more, of course, if the comparison object in the database is an object for which special export and import regulations apply.
However, KIKu should not only know its way around Europe. Greeks and Romans shouldn’t be a problem for them – but the Olmecs? They lived 3,000 years ago on the Gulf of Mexico, and their typical sculptures are in great demand in the illegal art trade. BLKA art investigators found figures in the style of this Central American culture a year ago in Munich.
The detectives in Unit 622 (“Special Investigations”) are experts when it comes to looted and looted art, illegally imported antiques, stolen art objects – and forgeries. “We wanted to see how clever the new app is,” says Wera Engelhardt from the BLKA press office. Because it is now clear: The supposed Olmecs from the Munich evidence collection room are well done – but wrong.