Her laughter is infectious. And anyone listening to Kerstin Kracht might initially get the impression that, for this engineer, works of art are merely a means to an end. But first impressions can be deceiving. Listen more closely, and her passion becomes clear: vibrations and waves are her area of expertise, but protecting works of art and cultural objects is equally close to her heart. More precisely, she ensures that vibrations and shocks do not damage valuable artefacts. To achieve this, she develops customised transport solutions.
One particularly challenging case was the Bayeux Tapestry. Almost 1,000 years old, this embroidered textile tells the story of William the Conqueror, who crossed the English Channel in 1066 and defeated the English King Harold II at the Battle of Hastings. The story unfolds across approximately 68 metres of fabric. Previously displayed in the French town of Bayeux, the tapestry has been included in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register since 2007. Since September, it has been on display at the British Museum in London. For decades, transporting it was considered almost unthinkable: the medieval textile was simply too fragile, and there were serious concerns that moving it could cause further tears and holes. That changed when Dr Kerstin Kracht was approached by the Dutch fine art logistics company Hizkia to jointly develop a vibration-optimised transport crate for this extraordinary object.
The engineer has been studying mechanical vibrations in works of art since 2004 and has also been developing vibration-optimised transport crates for art objects since 2017. Her successful collaboration with Hizkia dates back to that time. Most of the objects Kracht examines are highly sensitive paintings that can be transported safely with her assistance. Examples include Piet Mondrian's triptych Evolution and Vincent van Gogh's Wheatfield with Crows and Wheatfield under Thunderclouds, which travelled from the Netherlands to Paris. To maintain her focus, Kracht approaches these optimisation challenges primarily from an engineering perspective. Using wooden crates, metal frames and large springs, she creates a kind of protective travelling environment tailored to each artwork. "A few decades ago, it would not have been possible to transport a work of art like the Bayeux Tapestry as safely as we can today," says Kracht. "Advances in technology and engineering have now made this possible."
From Rogue Waves to Paintings
Kracht studied Physical Engineering Science at TU Berlin, where she also completed her doctorate and habilitation. One of her examiners was Professor Norbert Hoffmann from Hamburg University of Technology (TU Hamburg). This is how the two vibration experts first met in 2014. Today, Kracht also works as a freelance engineer, providing her expertise in vibration engineering for the transportation of artworks. This year, her work brought her back to Professor Hoffmann, this time at TU Hamburg and his Dynamics Group. At first glance, the group's research seems far removed from delicate canvases and medieval textiles: among other things, Hoffmann studies so-called rogue waves and uses machine learning to reconstruct wave patterns across entire oceans.
How does that relate to works of art? "Very well," says Kracht with a laugh. "Ultimately, you can find rogue waves in paintings too. Until now, however, it has not been possible to calculate them in these very particular types of solid structures." Waves cause vibrations, she explains, “and my goal is to protect these structures – in this case, paintings – from vibrations. Mathematical modelling is essential for this. The more accurate, the better.” Kracht has acquired the necessary expertise not only at her desk. Much of her research takes place directly in front of the artworks themselves. For example, she spent almost six months at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, where she used a specially designed painting test rig to investigate the vibration behaviour of Rembrandt's The Night Watch. Back and forth, up and down – she recorded around one million measurement points across the painting, which measures approximately 3.80 by 4.50 metres. Her test rig allows her to measure the movements of a canvas with great precision. Kracht describes the paintings as literally "fluttering". Although these movements are only a few millimetres in magnitude, they can still have consequences for the delicate structure of an artwork.
These measurements serve an important purpose: Kracht wants to gain a better understanding of how paintings age and what role mechanical stresses play in that process. The extensive measurement data provide the basis for models that can describe and compare the properties of different artworks.
Kracht now wants to share this knowledge at TU Hamburg. Starting in the winter semester, she will offer a hybrid course entitled "Mechanical Vibrations of Artworks and Cultural Objects". One topic covered in this interdisciplinary seminar is the design of vibration-isolated pedestals, such as the one supporting the bust of Nefertiti at the Neues Museum in Berlin. As the course brings together students of engineering, art technology, art history and conservation, it also addresses topics such as the ethics of transporting artworks, conservation treatments and methods of preventive conservation.
The Bayeux Tapestry: Engineering under Uncertainty
So how do you transport an almost 1,000-year-old textile that was considered too fragile to move for decades? When asked, "Surely you don't just roll it up?", Kracht shakes her head with an amused smile. “No, the tapestry, which is actually an embroidery, was stored folded over a kind of folding screen.” "This time, all I was given for my calculations was a technical drawing and the weight of the entire package," she explains. For the engineer, this was an unusual starting point. Normally, she works with detailed measurement data from the artworks themselves. With the Bayeux Tapestry, however, she had to estimate many of the relevant parameters. She therefore based her calculations on the most fragile conceivable scenario and developed a particularly soft suspension system.
“The fundamental parameters of my work are always mass, stiffness, damping and the nature of the artwork – these are what matter.” These factors determine the design of a transport crate. Typically, the artwork is placed in a wooden crate or, ideally, in a crate with reinforced walls made of composite materials and an integrated climate barrier. The crate itself is then housed, for example, within an aluminium frame and isolated from the outer structure by numerous wire rope isolators.
A Customised Solution
For the Bayeux Tapestry, Kracht and Hizkia developed a customised solution. The folded tapestry was placed inside a climate-controlled transport crate, which was suspended within a metal cage using wire rope isolators. The aim was to minimise shocks and vibrations throughout the entire journey. As the design evolved, the crate grew increasingly large, until there was no way of telling from the outside what precious object it contained.
Despite the technical precision involved, Kracht tries to set aside the emotional dimension of her work. After all, she frequently deals with artworks of immeasurable cultural and financial value. “I always have to remind myself that this is a perfectly normal project and that I'm not dealing with objects worth millions.” Perhaps this also explains her remarkable matter-of-factness when discussing the artworks. In her hands, paintings by Mondrian and Van Gogh become objects with specific material properties whose mass, stiffness and damping must be analysed. Art becomes engineering – but only during the moments devoted to analysis, calculation and the development of technical solutions. In every other respect, art represents a higher form of existence for Kerstin Kracht, and this is undoubtedly one of the sources of her passion for the subject.
The Moment of Truth
Before the Bayeux Tapestry was allowed to embark on its journey to London, the transport system was tested using a facsimile. The trial runs followed a predefined protocol. Only after the design had passed all the tests did the lorry carrying the original tapestry set off for London through the Channel Tunnel.
"Dry runs like these are standard procedure. I was very confident that everything would go smoothly," says Kracht. After the tapestry arrived, however, further patience was required. It had to acclimatise for a week before the transport crate could be opened. Only then was the delicate textile unpacked. The Bayeux Tapestry is now on display at the British Museum until July 2027.
And Kracht? Her work has not only helped ensure that a piece of medieval cultural heritage could be transported safely from France to the United Kingdom. Her unusual profession has even attracted the attention of one of the world's most prestigious magazines: The New Yorker. This time, her laughter is more subdued. Kerstin Kracht is grateful to have been mentioned in the article – and even quoted. It is something she is proud of, and it shows.
In the winter semester 2026/27, Dr Kerstin Kracht will also offer the course "Mechanical Vibrations of Artworks and Cultural Objects" to students at TU Hamburg. Anyone interested in attending should register directly with her by emailing kerstin.kracht[at]tuhh(dot)de.
