The keeper of the secrets
János Pataki, head of the Hungarian National Museum’s Security Department
MúzeumCafé 9.
János Pataki has caught a cold and is whispering. It’s not his usual style and it makes this stocky man even more mysterious. We are in one of the museum’s most important rooms where King Stephen’s coronation mantle is kept behind ‘glass’ several centimetres thick. Mr Pataki says that should the whole building collapse this room would survive unscathed. The Holy Crown and the coronation insignia were displayed here until their transfer to Parliament. The walls are protected by various means and though he cannot reveal their secret you only have to look at the door and there is no doubt – it is a bunker. “The mantle is the museum’s highly prominent art treasure, its protection is a very important part of the security system since, together with the Holy Crown and the coronation insignia, it has recently been officially listed. It is kept under extremely strong physical and technical protection, supplemented by a round-the-clock guard. The museum has a vast number of art treasures, the majority in storage, therefore when developing the building’s security system we aim to protect not only exhibited objects but also those in store rooms so an intruder cannot get near the items there, cannot damage them.” It is indeed an important aspect and explains the military-like discipline – a mere 8-10 per cent of the National Museum’s stock of treasures are on display. János Pataki agrees to a game whereby we test the security system. We enter an area cordoned off from visitors and the alarm immediately sounds. An armed guard appears from nowhere in a second and then informs the control centre that it was only the boss giving a demonstration. With a smile in his eyes Mr Pataki launches into an impromptu talk on security systems.