Mystery of the missing Stradivarius

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It’s the stuff of a crime novel; a thief slips into a performer’s room and makes off with his violin. Well, this is no work of fiction but an event which happened on the night of February 28th 1936.
Julian Altman was a violinist who performed in clubs in New York. His mother moved her son to the Oregon Apartments which were located near to Carnegie Hall. Her intention was that her son could get hold of a quality violin.


20 year old Julian Altman was at that time employed at the Russian Bear where he performed nightly dressed as a gypsy. Altman befriended doormen and musicians at the nearby Carnegie Hall. For a cigarette the guards would allow him to listen to the concert from the wings.
Huberman was performing at Carnegie on the night of the theft and he had two violins in his possession, a Guarnerius which he used for the performance and a Strad which he left in his dressing room.


Altman turned up at the back door of Carnegie after making an excuse to leave the Russian Bear. He wore a thick overcoat under which he intended to conceal the violin. Offering to keep an eye on things while the security guard had a cigarette break he entered the hall.
While Huberman was performing Bach’s Concerto in E Major, Altman slipped into his dressing room and removed the valuable instrument from its case. He then returned to his post as watchman until the security guard came back.


Huberman’s Secretary Miss Ibikin noticed the instrument missing during the second half of the performance and asked Huberman what she should do. He reassured her that the instrument was insured and that she must alert the authorities. No information was passed to the audience who sat enjoying the music, oblivious to the detectives who were questioning and searching behind the scenes.


Huberman said that the violin had a distinguishing mark where the neck had been repaired. Photographs of the instrument had recently been taken. Huberman did not believe the thief to be a musician for he left behind a collection of bows worth $9,000 and the case. The musician made an insurance claim of $30,000 from Lloyds in London.


Altman meanwhile was now performing with his valuable Stradivarius and although people wondered about it, he was never questioned. It wasn’t until on his deathbed in 1985 that he confessed to his wife that he had stolen the violin. There was much debate as to whether the woman should have claimed the ‘finder’s fee’ but the money she made is long gone.



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