While researching for my clock post, I learned about the history of Foucault’s Pendulum in the Pantheon, which helped prove the earths rotation. Along with this, the Wagner clock a 19th Century is also housed and had fallen into disrepair until in 2006 a shadowy organization known as Undergrunther revealed they had been secretly repairing it for a year after breaking in.
Klaussman, the unofficial spokesperson for the UX, the urban exploration operation that Undergrunther was born out of, claims everything started when two middle-schoolers in the 60’s found they could sneak into the Pantheon really easily by hiding in the bathrooms until it closed. After this, they snuck into another government facility and stole maps of the tunnels underneath Paris. For years, they hosted movie nights in an underground cinema they constructed in secret. They became experts on the failures of the French government to properly protect museums.
Jean-Baptiste Viot, clock manufacturer and UX member, convinced the other members to join him in this operation. After finding their way in, they brought materials into a closet to create their secret workshop. After spending a year on the repairs, they revealed what they had done to the museum’s administration, and were arrested and charged. Their case was thrown out, and they continue to operate in secret.
Their website has a contact email. Unfortunately, they were too busy to meet with me, but they told me an English copy of their book will be out soon. I’m going to send them a few questions, hopefully I can get at least print replies.
Preservation as it’s taught in our classes is a game of compromise. Homeowner’s, laws, and city council members are seen as necessary adversaries to insure that preservation is done “right”. That’s why I find it so fascinating to see this operation being run by an organization which wholly rejects the input of authority. I’m curious to see what they do next.