DOI Heft:
Artykuł i prace konserwatorskie
DOI Artikel:Röhrs, Stefan: Krakow's Laboratory of Analysis and Non-Destructive Investigation of Heritage Objects (LANBOZ) and Berlin's Rathgen-Forschungslabor (RF): an exemplary European collaboration DOI: an exemplary European collaboration
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49248#0089
The Rathgen-Forschungslabor (Rathgen Research Laboratory, RF) is the scientific research institution of
the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Stiftung PreuBischer Kulturbesitz (National Museums in Berlin, Prussian
Cultural Heritage Foundation) and as such, a German counterpart of the Laboratory of Analysis and Non-
-Destructive Investigation of Heritage Objects (Laboratorium Analiz i Nieniszczących Badań Obiektów
Zabytkowych, LANBOZ) in Krakow. The working contacts established in several fields between the two
laboratories are summarized here to illustrate how collaborations in the ever closer European research
landscape help to achieve research goals in the field of heritage science.
The Rathgen-Forschungslabor is heir to the Chemisches Laboratorium der Kóniglichen Museen (Che-
mical Laboratory of the Royal Museums) which was founded on 1 April 1888 and closed in 1948 following
its destruction during the Second World War. After reopening in 1975, the laboratory was renamed Rath-
gen-Forschungslabor in honour of its first director, Friedrich Rathgen, who pioneered preservation and
chemical analyses of cultural heritage objects (Riederer 1976; Bracchi 2014).
COMMONALITIES BETWEEN THE RF AND THE LANBOZ
The LANBOZ and the RF share many aspects: both are part of national museums; their research ranges
from archaeological studies and technical examination of art to the understanding of decay mechanisms
and preventive conservation. The galleries of both the National Museum in Krakow and the National
Museums in Berlin are located at several sites across each respective city. This scattering of collections
represents an additional challenge for their scientific laboratories as it requires transportation of either
objects or analytical equipment in order to perform analyses. Specialised portable analytical equipment
is needed when historic objects cannot be moved to a laboratory.
The museums in question collect a wide range of objects, from prehistoric archaeological finds to
contemporary artworks. The respective scientific laboratories must be prepared to carry out different
types of analyses of a variety of organic and inorganic materials. This requires appropriate analytical in-
struments and qualified staff to operate them. The RF's analytical equipment ranges from Environmental
Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive X-ray Detection (ESEM/EDX) to p-X-Ray Fluorescen-
ce Spectroscopy (p-XRF), Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Ion Chromato-
graphy (IC), Fourier Transform Infra-Red Spectroscopy (FT-IR), p-Raman Spectroscopy, High Performance
Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) to Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS), to name a few. As of
2017, the RF team consisted of the director, two scientists, two technicians, a documentation officer and
a secretary. The permanent staff is joined by two project officers and one “scientist-in-training” funded
by the Stiftung Preufiischer Kulturbesitz as well as two third-party funded scientists.
Beside the challenge posed by the analyses, detailed knowledge of materials from various regions of
the world and dating to various periods is needed in order to interpret the results properly. With these
challenges in mind, it is only natural that scientists are actively seeking cooperation in order to efficien-
tly respond to the complex analytical demands of the collections. One of these collaborations has deve-
loped between LANBOZ and RF, much helped by the commonness of research objectives and the relative
geographical proximity of these institutions. Early contacts between these institutions were dedicated
to the museum environment conditions and the carbon footprint. In 2013, Łukasz Bratasz from LANBOZ,
87
the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Stiftung PreuBischer Kulturbesitz (National Museums in Berlin, Prussian
Cultural Heritage Foundation) and as such, a German counterpart of the Laboratory of Analysis and Non-
-Destructive Investigation of Heritage Objects (Laboratorium Analiz i Nieniszczących Badań Obiektów
Zabytkowych, LANBOZ) in Krakow. The working contacts established in several fields between the two
laboratories are summarized here to illustrate how collaborations in the ever closer European research
landscape help to achieve research goals in the field of heritage science.
The Rathgen-Forschungslabor is heir to the Chemisches Laboratorium der Kóniglichen Museen (Che-
mical Laboratory of the Royal Museums) which was founded on 1 April 1888 and closed in 1948 following
its destruction during the Second World War. After reopening in 1975, the laboratory was renamed Rath-
gen-Forschungslabor in honour of its first director, Friedrich Rathgen, who pioneered preservation and
chemical analyses of cultural heritage objects (Riederer 1976; Bracchi 2014).
COMMONALITIES BETWEEN THE RF AND THE LANBOZ
The LANBOZ and the RF share many aspects: both are part of national museums; their research ranges
from archaeological studies and technical examination of art to the understanding of decay mechanisms
and preventive conservation. The galleries of both the National Museum in Krakow and the National
Museums in Berlin are located at several sites across each respective city. This scattering of collections
represents an additional challenge for their scientific laboratories as it requires transportation of either
objects or analytical equipment in order to perform analyses. Specialised portable analytical equipment
is needed when historic objects cannot be moved to a laboratory.
The museums in question collect a wide range of objects, from prehistoric archaeological finds to
contemporary artworks. The respective scientific laboratories must be prepared to carry out different
types of analyses of a variety of organic and inorganic materials. This requires appropriate analytical in-
struments and qualified staff to operate them. The RF's analytical equipment ranges from Environmental
Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive X-ray Detection (ESEM/EDX) to p-X-Ray Fluorescen-
ce Spectroscopy (p-XRF), Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Ion Chromato-
graphy (IC), Fourier Transform Infra-Red Spectroscopy (FT-IR), p-Raman Spectroscopy, High Performance
Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) to Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS), to name a few. As of
2017, the RF team consisted of the director, two scientists, two technicians, a documentation officer and
a secretary. The permanent staff is joined by two project officers and one “scientist-in-training” funded
by the Stiftung Preufiischer Kulturbesitz as well as two third-party funded scientists.
Beside the challenge posed by the analyses, detailed knowledge of materials from various regions of
the world and dating to various periods is needed in order to interpret the results properly. With these
challenges in mind, it is only natural that scientists are actively seeking cooperation in order to efficien-
tly respond to the complex analytical demands of the collections. One of these collaborations has deve-
loped between LANBOZ and RF, much helped by the commonness of research objectives and the relative
geographical proximity of these institutions. Early contacts between these institutions were dedicated
to the museum environment conditions and the carbon footprint. In 2013, Łukasz Bratasz from LANBOZ,
87