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The Untergunther
[untergunth]
The Untergunther is a French team whose
activity is to restore the invisible
parts of the heritage in total
clandestinity.
In November 2005, the Untergunther
infiltrated the Pantheon of Paris and,
with the help of the professional
clockmaker Jean-Baptiste Viot, started to
restore the abandoned monumental 1850
Wagner clock before its irreversible
state of defacement.
Once this restoration achieved, in
October 2006, the Untergunther decided to
meet Bernard Jeannot, the administrator
of the Pantheon, in order to show him
this work and to connect the clock to the
bells.
After an enthusiastic welcome, Mister
Jeannot suddenly changed his mind and
decided to keep the silence on this
clandestine restoration, frightened that
this fantastic action was the proof of
the incapacity of the French National
Heritage administration, Monum, to
preserve the heritage it is in charge of.
On the night of the 24th december 2006,
the Untergunther came back to the
Pantheon and fixed the bells to the clock
which just rang for Christmas and a few
days after because Mister Jeannot decided
that this result of a clandestine
restoration of an abandoned part of the
French heritage was intolerable and had
to stop.
Bernard Jeannot can be the administrator
of the Pantheon but he does not seem to
care about heritage.
No doubt that a real guerilla is declared
between him, its inefficient
administration and the UnterGunther.
This amazing restoration is the end of an
adventure began with the clandestine
transformation of a neglected part of the
Pantheon as a design living room with
wood furniture built onsite, electricity,
and a computer connected to internet
called the UGWK, for "Unter und Gunther
Winter Kneipe", which could be translated
as the Unter and Gunther Winter Boozer. A
very pleasant workshop which gave also
nightmares to Mister Jeannot and its so
called Administration.
On the morning of friday November 23
2007, four members of the Untergunther
appeared before the Paris Court of
Justice, charged not of illegal intrusion
and occupation of a national monument or
use of false keys but for having detroyed
a keeper of a lock located on one of the
outside grids of the Pantheon.
This charge (qualified as "stupid" by
Public Prosecutor Anne Benejean) being
not provable, the indictment was the
total release of the UnterGunther members
while Eric Gomez, lawyer for Monum, asked
48300 euros in compensation.
After twenty minutes of deliberation,
Judge Eric Meunier confirmed the release.
Pascal Monnet, the new Administrator of
the Pantheon after the retirement of the
efficient Bernard Jeannot, and Ghislaine
Santoni, in charge of the security of the
building, left the Court of Justice with
a very sad face and the UnterGunther went
to their new clandestine workshop to have
a drink.
Interviewed by French newspaper Le Monde,
Monum acknowledged the quality of this
restoration.
One can now wonder why the administration
does not decide to wind up the clock. It
is impossible to think that for all these
administrators in charge of the French
Heritage a monument is something stated
in the time and can not be changed, and
especially not be upgraded by a
clandestine restoration....
Choice of articles published in English
and French :
Le Parisien (Oct. 14, 2006) : Le Pantheon
habite en secret
Le Figaro (Aug. 31, 2007) : Dans le monde
secret des explorateurs urbains
The Times (Sep. 29, 2007) : Underground
'terrorists' with a mission to save
city's neglected heritage
Le Monde (Nov. 25, 2007) : Aux intrus, la
patrie... tres enervee
The Guardian (Nov. 26, 2007) : Undercover
restorers fix Paris landmark's clock
Wired (January 20, 2012) : The New French
Hacker-Artist Underground
Science & Vie Junior (#288, August 2013)
: Les fantomes du Pantheon
[untergunth]
The 150 year old Wagner clock and the
Untergunther's clockmaker Jean-Baptiste
Viot (c) TF1
[untergunth]
An Untergunther repairing the old Wagner
clock mecanism (c) UX
[untergunth]
Inside the Wagner clock - Before and
after the Untergunther restoration (c) TF1
[untergunth]
The UGWK designed and built by the
Untergunther in a neglected part of the
Pantheon (c) UX
[untergunth]
Untergunther's clockmaker Jean-Baptiste
Viot (c) UX
[pantheon_u]
Pantheon, user's guide.
Film by Lazar Kunstmann.
[cover_2066]
Urban eXperiment
More than 25 years of urban experiment in
Paris.
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