NPÚ has the best fire protection at Bečov with the reliquary

Prague - One of the monuments that is best protected against fire in the Czech Republic is probably the Bečov Castle and Chateau, managed by the National Heritage Institute (NPÚ). It is a site where one of the rarest and most valuable Czech movable artifacts, the reliquary of Saint Maurus, is accessible to the public. Water is distributed throughout the entire property, so it would be possible to extinguish a fire very quickly. This was stated by Martha Häckl, spokesperson for the Ministry of Culture. The most valuable heritage sites are connected to electronic fire alarms and linked to centralized fire department response systems.

The Ministry of Culture conducts about 60 inspections each year to check how state castles, chateaus, theaters, museums, and galleries are protected against fire. Of these, there were 28 inspections last year on properties managed by NPÚ. "Bečov is a model facility for firefighters, there is a unique fire tank system with distribution leading throughout the entire area of the national cultural monument," said the spokesperson.

The Bečov Castle and Chateau is one of the hundred heritage sites managed by NPÚ. Like another thirty state-funded organizations, the Institute has its own management subjectivity, so it must ensure fire protection itself. Since 1992, monument owners have been able to apply for grants from the ministry for enhanced fire safety protection under the ISO (Integrated System for the Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage) program.

The NPÚ has an agreement with firefighters for cooperation, and regular drills are held at the monuments to test the availability of fire water for intervention, response times, accessibility of the property including the possibility of setting up height equipment, and the evacuation of people and materials.

Just as it is mandatory for state-funded organizations to arrange fire protection measures, they must also insure themselves. A few years ago, the Ministry of Culture entered into a contract to insure all assets within its jurisdiction. The contract was concluded in 2012 and was to last four years, with the Ministry paying a total of 80 million crowns; the exact maximum payout at that time was not specified. It was stated that properties valued at approximately 246 billion crowns were insured, excluding service vehicles. However, in 2014, the contract was terminated by Kooperativa. Therefore, state-funded organizations signed their own property insurance agreements.

They had their own contracts even before the central agreement was concluded; NPÚ, for example, signed a contract in 2007 to insure all its monuments for 400 million crowns. The Institute estimated the value of all its real estate at that time to be 64 billion crowns and the value of the movable property over 160 billion crowns. Only at Český Krumlov Castle did insurance workers estimate the value of the complex at 4.5 billion. NPÚ spokesperson Jana Hartmannová told ČTK today that all the Institute's property is insured, but she did not specify the details of the insurance.

Determining the value of the rarest monuments is very difficult; people can learn about approximate values occasionally during exhibitions when rare artifacts are insured for that purpose. Four years ago, the Budyšín Manuscript, the oldest preserved version of the Cosmas Chronicle from the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries, was exhibited at Prague Castle for a few days. At that time, the organizers stated it was insured for 100 million crowns. The reliquary of Saint Maurus, exhibited alongside it, had an insurance value of half a billion.

Restoration of the burned Libušín in the Beskids was previously covered by insurance, and the insurance will also contribute to the restoration of a church in Gutech. Pernštejn Castle was insufficiently insured at the time when a fire caused 50 million crowns in damage, so the payout was small, and financial aid was provided by the region and the state.

Fire protection of heritage sites has come into focus after a fire broke out on Monday at the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. It was extinguished on Tuesday, but the exact extent of the damage is not yet known.