Robbery and mashed potatoes: How museums protect their works of art

Spectacular thefts like in the Green Vault or mashed potatoes attacks by radical climate protectors: Do museums need better protective measures for their works of art? How are the treasures actually insured?

It was the largest Celtic treasure found in the 20th century. Almost four kilos of gold. Scientific value: priceless. Even three weeks after the Manching treasure was stolen, there is no trace of where it has gone. A shock for the market town that owned the treasure. But also for all other museums in Germany. What was missed? How safe are art and cultural assets? And: is it true that many museums have no insurance at all?

Whether Berlin, Dresden or Manching: all museums share the risk of being robbed. The thieves are organized, professional and bold. However, many museums prefer to remain silent on the subject. On request from tagesschau.de at two dozen institutions there are hardly any answers, or often only this: They don’t want to talk about security.

Several security systems interlock

However, some provided information, for example the State Museum in Hanover. The threat of theft is taken very seriously. There is 24-hour security and a new alarm system. The most valuable objects are also housed in security showcases. “After the robbery in Dresden, there were special funds for such showcases,” says press spokeswoman Nicola Kleinecke.

However, there will not be 100% protection, says Sonja Missfeldt, media officer at the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg. “Museums have the task of protecting and preserving cultural assets, but also making them accessible to the public. We want to continue to do that.”

There are several interlocking security systems, says Missfeldt: “structural measures, mechanical safeguards, a state-of-the-art surveillance system, as well as people who are responsible for the security of our plants.” Security personnel are on site around the clock. All this costs a lot of money. Even a successful museum like the Germanisches Nationalmuseum would need additional funds for security.

There is a lack of staff in the security industry

“Of course we don’t do without people. There are guards: 24 hours a day and 365 days a year,” agrees Frank Matthias Kammel, director of the Bavarian National Museum in Munich.

After the burglary in the Historical Green Vault, structural, technical, organizational and personnel changes were made in the security area of ​​the State Art Collections (SKD) in Dresden. 24/7 surveillance was stepped up after 2019. However, SKD spokesman Holger Liebs points out that “the security industry is currently missing an estimated 12,000 employees nationwide”. The pandemic has exacerbated the situation.

House bans for climate activists

But not only robbery, but also physical attacks by radical climate activists pose a challenge to the museums. The Dresden State Art Collections monitor the national and international security situation in the museums. Measures to protect the works of art were already implemented after the first campaigns, such as the cake thrown at the Mona Lisa in the Louvre in Paris and the pasting campaigns in London and Glasgow. “The measures include the glazing of endangered works, a ban on bags, jackets and coats as well as the continuous training of the supervisory staff,” reports press spokeswoman Anja Priewe.

The activists of the “Last Generation” were banned from entering all museums of the Dresden State Art Collections. “Ultimately, however, if the museum’s mission is to be fulfilled, such sticking campaigns cannot be prevented 100 percent without unreasonably restricting museum operations,” says Priewe. “A presentation of the works of art shows them in their vulnerability, which no security concept can fully compensate for. The main focus is therefore the best possible prevention of damage to the work of art and the avoidance of consequential damage.”

Because of the federal structures, there is no uniformity nationwide as to who is responsible for security in the museums. In most federal states, the respective state criminal police office advises the museums. But what the museums then implement, they usually decide independently. The thefts in Berlin, Dresden and Manching show that every museum is well advised to regularly review its own security concept.

“Lighting up the unimaginable”

The Allianz insurance group is one of the largest art insurers in Germany. Their advice: Always assume the “worst-case scenario” when trying to prevent theft. “My recommendation is always to look at the unimaginable in a security review,” says Eric Wolzenburg, head of art insurance at Allianz. “Actually unimaginable thefts can only be planned and carried out with special insider knowledge. In Dresden and Manching, infrastructure outside of the museum buildings was also affected on both occasions, which is why an approach in which risk aspects are considered from start to finish seems important to me.”

Wolzenburg strongly advises museums to have a night watch and not to rely solely on technology. “Experience has shown that this always goes wrong in the long run.” Insider knowledge is also a “relevant risk factor”. In the area of ​​art and exhibition insurance, he now conducts several hundred discussions a year.

After the experiences of Manching, museum director Kammel advises: “Evaluate the respective house and its security periodically together with experts from the criminal police. And learn from mistakes, new situations and previously unknown criminal machinations and react to them with concrete measures.”

Better to secure than to insure

It is astonishing that many museums in Germany have not insured their treasures at all. “The state museums have a special structure. Here, state liability applies,” says Kleinecke from the State Museum in Hanover. The principle of self-insurance applies to the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden. The items are not privately insured, but here, too, the Free State of Saxony steps in in the event of damage. The so-called state liability applies in one way or another to all state institutions in the federal states and in the federal government.

However, self-insurance does not apply to loan transactions. This is where commercial insurance policies are taken out. “How the museums deal with the insurance companies is up to the individual museums,” says Kammel. “Loans and long-term loans are always insured, including a selection of the museum’s own holdings. Insuring all of the museum’s holdings would probably be too much for any museum sponsor.”

Without providing any information about the insurance situation at the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Mißfeldt says: “The question is what you want to do with a compensation sum from the insurance company. Buy a new gold treasure from Manching? For museums, the ideal, i.e. cultural-historical value of their exhibits is usually considerable above a material value. The objects are irretrievable, unique and therefore priceless. This loss cannot be compensated with money.” Many museums say, without wanting to be quoted: It’s better to invest a lot more money in security than in insurance.

Security Guide

Museums can insure themselves against damage caused by climate activists, says insurance expert Wolzenburg. “The special insurance concept of an exhibition insurance can comprehensively cover the damage or even the destruction of the works of art.” Works of art have always been damaged, according to Wolzenburg, whether as a result of willful acts or as unintentional damage or destruction. “Deliberately damaging or destroying a work of art has always remained the very rare exception, so the majority of the damage we pay in art insurance is due to carelessness.”

The German Museums Association has published a guide to security issues, which is widely read these days. Museums don’t like to talk about their security concepts. There is only one sentence that you hear over and over again: There is no such thing as 100% security.