The history of DETEK – your detective agency for business and private investigations

Today

More than 100 years of experience

Together with its affliates Detektei Ohrdorff GmbH and Deutsche Akademie für Ermittlungsdienste GmbH, DETEK draws on over 100 years of expertise. To this day, we gain experience and establish new contacts on a daily basis.

In addition to a number of major enterprises, many known medium-sized companies trust DETEK. We are also regularly approached by law firms from Germany and abroad, by international detective agencies – and of course by private people.

2003

From e.K. to AG

Expert advice is crucial to succeed. And because business went well, registered merchant (in German: e.K. – eingetragener Kaufmann) Hartmut Hoppe decided to retain his closest colleagues and their skills by asking them to be shareholders of DETEK. This way young employees get the chance to participate in a company – and to lead it into the future.

Since 2003 Dr. Thomas Borcholte (biochemist, marketing-expert and entrepreneur), Raoul Classen (investigator) and Dominik Ossada (lawyer) have been joint holders of the stock company (in German: AG – Aktiengesellschaft).

As members of the supervisory board Claus-Peter Korte (jurist), Klaus Hawellek (legal specialist for inheritance, corporate and tax law) and chairman Dr. Borcholte control our work carefully.

Within this new form of business organization important topics can be diversely discussed and professionally negotiated – whether it is the companies development, a request by a client or a special case.

1989

Expansion kicks off

After DETEK had established itself in Hannover, we started expansion in 1989. Our second office opened up 120 kilometres from the first one in the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen – followed by a third, fourth, fifth,… operations centre over time.

Today, DETEK is proud to provide investigative services at nine locations throughout Germany. We are particularly pleased there is an international demand for our work.

1984

Providing security & education

When you know a criminal mind, you also know, how to protect yourself against its illegal output. With this in the back of his head, Hartmut Hoppe bought a company specializing in security services and called it DETECTOR.

Since then the subsidiary has been converted into the Deutsche Akademie für Ermittlungsdienste (in English: German Academy for Investigation Services) to train soon-to-be investigators as well as educate investigators further. Security services such as weak point analysis, monitoring technology or seminars for employees are offered by DETEK directly now.

We did not want to part from our dearly beloved DETECTOR homepage. Fans of the nineties aesthetic may reminisce here.

1978

How DETEK was founded

„The competition has smuggled you into our company, right?“, joked a detective colleague over a beer after work. As a freshly graduated economist Hartmut Hoppe worked – exclusively – for a detective agency in Southern Germany. But his creative ideas surely stood out.

Looking for opportunities to learn and challenge himself, he soon joined an information and security company before setting up his own business in 1978: DETEK investigations e.K. was born.

1909

The oldest agency of Hannover

Established in 1909 as the detective agency Pröhl, Heinz G. Ohrdorff took over investigations eventually. When he himself aspired to retire, he approached DETEK. For years both investigation firms had maintained a close business relationship. In August 1989 we acquired Hannovers oldest agency, now a wholly owned affliate of DETEK.