Mack the Knife and Al Capone’s Bodyguard 

At the age of 24, the Berliner Hugo Baruch wrote a fictional autobiography in 1932, presenting himself as Al Capone’s bodyguard and adopting the name Jack Bilbo. Drawing on his extraordinary life as a writer, artist, pub owner, and ship captain, our short tours will focus on The Red Dress, a painting on display in the JMB’s permanent exhibition.

The son of a theatrical set-design entrepreneur, Baruch had been active in resistance to the National Socialists since 1930. In 1933, he fled via Paris to Mallorca and mainland Spain, making a living as a sailor and innkeeper. Following the defeat of the Spanish Republic, he reached London, where he turned to painting and opened the Modern Art Gallery in 1941. In 1956, he returned to Berlin and took over the legendary Captain Bilbo’s Harbour Tavern at Olivaer Platz, where he continued to spin his colorful seafaring tales.

In Wolfgang Staudte’s 1963 film adaptation of The Threepenny Opera, Jack Bilbo appears alongside Curt Jürgens, Gert Fröbe, Lino Ventura, and Sammy Davis Jr. – with Spelunken-Jenny, played by Hildegard Knef, seated on his lap.

In the Mack the Knife Lounge in the JMB’s Glass Courtyard, we will continuously screen two versions of The Threepenny Opera in rotation: Wolfgang Staudte’s 1963 adaptation and G. W. Pabst’s 1931 film version, starring Rudolf Forster, Carola Neher, Valeska Gert, Lotte Lenya, and Ernst Busch.

Short Guided Tours (45 minutes) – Long Night of Museums