The detective superintendent

Yes, Cornelia von Hollen carries a weapon. That's the question she's always asked when she tells people she's a chief inspector. "But only when I'm out on an investigation," she adds. And no, she's not a big fan of TV crime-fighting shows. "They don't really appeal to me," she laughs.

These are just some of clichés detective superintendent Cornelia von Hollen has to contend with every day. Crime shows, thrillers and detective novels all convey what she says is a very misleading impression of police work.

"We actually spend a lot of time at our desks in the criminal investigation department," she says. She and her colleagues do get out and about in the course of their investigations now and then, but on the whole, her job has little in common with the action-packed adventures portrayed on TV. "And we don't often solve our cases in an hour, either," she smiles.

Every day, Cornelia takes her kids to school before heading to the red brick building in central Bremerhaven where she works. By eight she's usually at her desk in Room 105, at the end of a long corridor in the west wing of the building. She works for department K 23, investigating business crime.

An experienced policewoman

Her desk occupies almost half the room. This is where Cornelia does most of her work. She's responsible for uncovering financial crime, from fake bankruptcy to fraud. She works with numbers – and that's what she enjoys most.

"I like finding evidence by studying figures," she says. "It's a very straightforward and logical way of identifying a perpetrator."

And that's what it's all about: Finding the perpetrator – or sometimes, establishing someone's innocence. Now 35, Cornelia loves to see justice done. That's why she joined the police in the first place.

Cornelia von Hollen has worked for the police for sixteen years. She was born and raised in Bremerhaven, and attended police academy in the nearby city of Bremen. By the time she graduated, women had become a common sight on the police force. Older police officers say that the increase in the number of women on the force changed police work: On the one hand, their social skills improved morale – and on the other, their presence helped make the forces more family-friendly.

As a mother, Cornelia von Hollen only works part-time. She spends four hours a day at work and is always home by midday, just in time to welcome her 8-year-old son Jero and her 10-year-old daughter Deike back from school. She makes lunch and spends the afternoon helping them with their homework. Then it's time for the kids' various activities.

"It's definitely pretty stressful," she says. "There's never enough time."

Modern role models

Her husband Axel does most of the housework. He wakes the children up every morning and gives them breakfast, and in the afternoon he drives Jero to soccer training. But Cornelia always makes sure she has time for PTA evenings, and the couple go together.

Cornelia von Hollen keeps her private and professional lives completely separate. She stops being a detective as soon as she leaves her office. But she gets the impression that friends think she's always on duty – she'll suddenly be asked if a child's car seat meets legal requirements, for example. She usually can't help with an answer to such questions.

"I'm a detective superintendent," she says. "I'm not a uniformed policewoman."

Author: Zoran Arbutina (jp)
Editor: Rina Goldenberg