New technology for historic masterpieces

The Goethe Museum in Frankfurt/Main is a unique collection that is freely accessible for viewing and research, not just for literature fans. Visual art lovers can see treasures from the late Baroque, "Sturm und Drang", Classical, Romantic and Biedermeier periods. The house where the famous poet was born presents a unique collection exclusively devoted to Goethe's lifetime. Visitors can admire works by artists such as Tischbein, Hackert and Caspar David Friedrich close up. To protect its collection, the Goethe Museum relies on security systems from Bosch.

Ideal views of valuable pictures
The Goethe Museum exhibits valuable paintings without any visible security. No barriers impede visitors' view of the unique artistic treasures. To protect them from theft, the paintings are secured almost invisibly using capacitive image monitoring. A small electronic device measures the distance between visitors and the paintings, activating an alarm as soon as anyone comes too close. Since the device is mounted behind the painting, it does not interfere with visitors' view. The alarm reacts before any contact with the paintings, rather than afterwards, thereby protecting them from being removed.

No chance for thieves
To prevent break-ins, the Goethe Museum secures its interior and exterior perimeter with surveillance cameras, movement detectors and glass breakage alarms. The infrared movement detectors were installed in many places throughout the museum. They are only activated when the museum is closed. Thieves hiding in the museum are inevitably detected.

Windows are also ideally secured using Bosch technology. They are monitored using so-called magnet and bolt contacts.

Fire protection
To protect visitors and artifacts from fire, the  Goethe Museum has installed an effective fire alarm system from Bosch. The fire alarms are very discrete and do not distract visitors from the historic masterpieces.

The Goethe Museum uses a total of 165 fire alarms. One type of alarm uses optical sensors that detect possible fires through the stray light principle. The museum also uses thermo-alarms that react to heat. Automatic fire alarms measure heat, smoke and gas in a room and react immediately when measurements exceed normal values.

Well monitored day and night

Other museums also secure their treasures with security systems from Bosch. Intelligent cabinet surveillance from Bosch can be adapted to suit different requirements, thereby fulfilling two important tasks.

During the day, they ensure that visitors can get very close to the cabinets without affecting the exhibits' security. During visiting hours, the cabinet's interior is protected by a so-called "electronic spider". It is steamed onto the cabinet glass at its bottom edge and connected to a quiescent current. Breaking the glass interrupts the current and the "spider" activates the alarm.

When the museum closes to visitors in the evening, intelligent surveillance systems from Bosch can be set so that alarms are activated if anyone approaches the cabinets. This protects them effectively against nocturnal thieves.