If the rooms had continuously been heated over the centuries, the ceiling paintings would have long been lost due to the temperature difference between the interiors and the attic above. This is also why comparable cycles of oil paintings on the walls are not preserved to this extent anywhere else. The other appointments of the rooms with their sensitive organic materials (wood and textiles) would have been ill-equipped to survive climatic fluctuations, since the latter are a main reason for serious damage and aging.
Building fabric and appointments respond to rapid climate changes (the increase or decrease of temperature) by absorbing or releasing moisture from and to the ambient air. Warm air can hold more moisture than cold air. When air has cooled down to the extent that it can absorb no more steam, moisture condenses on the coldest surface, a phenomenon that can easily be observed on car windscreens. Very often, however, the most polluted areas in the interiors are the windows (panes and wooden frames), or the ceilings in the state rooms, because they are only separated from the cold attic by a raft of ceiling beams. At the same time, the steam-blocking layer of oil paintings is the condensed surface (dew point)
What’s more, all other organic surfaces act as a moisture buffer for the air in the room: when it cools and therefore absorbs less steam, the surplus steam penetrates wood or textile substances, causing them to swell. If the room is warmed by heating, the process goes in the other direction. Wood dries out and “tears”, a phenomenon that can also be seen in one’s own home.
For historical materials, this sequence of expansion and contraction processes results in plenty of stress factors with serious consequences:
- the layers of the coloured finish peel off due to stress or steam pressure
- the microstructure becomes loose
- wooden parts burst
- the bindings of the coloured finish are lost through binder softening
- moisturising of building components or wall-bound appointments
- consequent infestation by microorganisms (mould)
- mobilisation of salts
These processes mutually reinforce themselves in their harmful effect, resulting in rapidly progressive aging and destruction of the building fabric. This is why all museums are so concerned about their ambient conditions. Best possible stable humidity and slow drying processes ensure the conservation of the building fabric and its long-term preservation. But because air-conditioning cannot be installed in the state rooms without destroying them at the same time, we follow a pattern that has been established for centuries, which is to allow them the time to adapt slowly to natural changes.
This is why at Schloss Eggenberg the season still ends on October 31. The shutters of the 52 windows are closed. They protect against cold, heavy rain and snow storms. The interiors cool down very slowly in accordance with the outdoor climate until the inside temperatures reach their low-point in February. All materials can slowly adapt to this process without incurring damage, as evidenced by the history of the structure. Climate curve performance is amazingly stable, even calmer and flatter than the climate curves of an ideally adjusted air conditioning system.
We gladly accept this restriction in the use of space in the interests of long-term conservation and also find that our visitors tend to agree with us. Not everything is usable, accessible and marketable for everyone at all times. Monuments are values per se. They have a non-consumable aspect which a civilized society is duty-bound to respect. Conservation and preservation also means restriction to a large extent.
While precious objects are presented in glass cabinets during an exhibition to protect them from mechanical and climatic damage, this measure is not possible at a monument such as Schloss Eggenberg. Its particular value resides in the immediate experience of another time. Our visitors are given the rare opportunity to experience historic interiors without modern interventions, without Plexiglas panels in front of the walls, without glass falling on porcelain objects and without cordoning off the furniture. Only a few historic homes offer this unique experience.