Dagobert: The Car Painter's Terror Campaign
How an ordinary auto mechanic became one of West Germany's most dangerous criminals
Quick Facts
Dagobert: The Extortionist Who Held Germany Hostage
An unassuming car painter from Germany's Ruhr Valley turned the entire nation into a hostage in the early 1990s. Arno Funke, born in 1958, sent bomb threats and extortion letters to major department stores across the country, demanding millions in deutsche marks. Operating under the pseudonym "Dagobert," he became one of West Germany's most dangerous criminals.
Amazon Studios has now dramatized this spectacular crime case in the 2024 series "Ich bin Dagobert," starring actor Friedrich Mücke in the lead role. The series offers a penetrating portrait of the man behind the terror attacks, bringing one of the post-war era's most remarkable criminal cases back into the spotlight.
From Ordinary Man to System Critic
Arno Funke grew up in modest circumstances and worked quietly as a car painter. But beneath the surface, something was festering. Starting in 1990, he began planning his grand scheme: a systematic terror campaign against Germany's retail sector.
His extortion letters were no ordinary crime. Funke composed meticulously crafted missives that displayed both psychological sophistication and literary quality. His letters were sometimes humorous, sometimes philosophical. He created an alter ego as the criminal genius "Dagobert"—an image that fascinated the media and terrified the public.
Between 1992 and 1993, Funke sent over 60 extortion letters to department stores like Kaufhof and Karstadt. The demanded sums ranged from 100,000 to several million marks. He announced bomb explosions at specific times and locations—triggering massive evacuations, millions in losses, and persistent fear among the population. The total damage ran into the tens of millions of marks.
