Gilles Zeimet offered his resignation to Culture Minister Eric Thill (DP) on Wednesday afternoon. Thill told the members of the Cultural Commission this and took the wind out of Marc Baum (“déi Lénk”). The opposition politician sent a 70-page analysis of the climate data to the press and MPs that morning. It looked as if he was preparing to dissect the statements made by Zeimet and Thill at the last commission meeting and on RTL according to all the rules of the art. Zeimet now forestalled this by removing himself from the equation. The analysis that the Tageblatt has had since Sunday evening hardly allowed for anything else.
Tropical Clervaux
The data speaks an unmistakable language. In July 2025, tropical conditions prevailed in several rooms of the castle for weeks – in room 2 the humidity rose to 76 percent and in room 4 to over 73 percent. The works of the “Family of Man”, a UNESCO world heritage site since 2003, were exposed to these conditions for days and weeks. The account put forward by CNA director Gilles Zeimet in the cultural commission – a marginal violation of the norm over eight days – has been finally refuted. Eric Thill’s “minutes”, which he brought up in an interview with RTL, is also out of the question. At least the Minister of Culture apologized to the MPs for this during the commission meeting. However, he sees no personal responsibility for the false statement itself: he passed on the information “one-to-one” that he received from his experts.
What is particularly serious in this case: According to Baum’s analysis, the castle’s surveillance system failed at the exact moment it was needed. Several sensors froze at their last reading instead of sounding an alarm. The monitors showed a deceptive calm while the humidity in the halls was derailing.
It is still unclear whether the prints, which were mounted on wooden panels and are particularly sensitive to fluctuations in humidity, suffered permanent damage. However, that was what the MPs wanted to know at the commission meeting today. To date, there is no independent inventory by external restorers. With Zeimet’s resignation, the way for such an undertaking could now be clear.
Baum himself put it matter-of-factly: Zeimet’s departure was “the only logical consequence,” and another meeting like the last one would have been “really no longer bearable.” He welcomed the minister’s apology: “I believe that this time we can let it go again. But it is also the last time.” But Baum makes one thing clear: “It’s definitely not the moment to say don’t worry about it.”
The question that remains: Why did it take so long? The first allegations against Zeimet were made at the latest during the disaster surrounding the Teutloff exhibition, which also had to be taken down and closed in the summer of 2025 due to problems with moisture in the exhibition hall. In addition to this problem, the cover-up in the “Family of Man” dossier and the questionable use of funds to renovate the CNA, there were complaints from associations and employees describing the impossibility of working with him.
How do you feel about self-criticism?
In the end, the minister was unable to credibly explain to either the commission or the journalists present why Thill relied on Zeimet’s statements until the very end and ignored all other information. At the end he sounded like a skipping record: “We must now look forward. We must now look forward. I have passed on the information one-to-one. We must now look forward.” When the RTL journalist present pointed out to him that he wasn’t answering her questions, Thill finally ran away.
At the end, one remaining official handed the journalists present a printed statement from Gilles Zeimet. In it, the outgoing director claims that he “exercised his role at every moment to the best of his knowledge and belief and with great commitment.” In recent weeks, however, the focus has shifted too much to himself, which has made it difficult for him to continue his mission “quietly, objectively and efficiently”. In the last sentence he thanks his employees for their “professionalism and constructive cooperation”.
From the employees with whom the Daily newspaper has been talking in the past few weeks, we have also received news. However, their thanks are not directed at Zeimet, but rather at the press and the parliamentary opposition.
