The irreplaceable treasures which lie within the display cases are inevitably appealing to thieves – a hazard which can be prevented through reliable video surveillance. As such, Dr Matthias Stenger, director of the East Frisian tea museum, decided in 2014 to replace their existing video surveillance system with new state-of-the-art equipment.

In addition, since its founding in 1989, the tea museum has grown in terms of space and this presented a challenge for the surveillance solution: in order to change as little as possible of the buildings themselves, the existing coaxial cabling would need to be used in the older buildings. In the newly renovated buildings, however, it was possible to use network technology.

 Dieter Bunke, a local expert in electrical and security technology devised a cost-effective surveillance solution which combined analogue and IP cameras. Because the new surveillance system was to be completed in time for the opening ceremony of the museum's newly renovated rooms, just four weeks were available for the installation – a challenge which Dieter Bunke’s team managed to overcome, much to the satisfaction of the museum’s management.

As with many museums there are corners with low light conditions which would challenge the capabilities of standard video cameras, and for this reason, the security firm recommended Abus HD camera domes with night vision. Their ultra low light function is perfect for the daily-darkened rooms of the museum, while also ensuring highly detailed and true-to-colour images at night. The cameras are also supported by an infrared spotlight, which provides additional lighting to monitored areas.

The museum’s winding architecture proved yet another challenge: one which the Abus camera domes solved with their wide angled view of the environment, thus ensuring seamless image overlap. As it would be impossible to see all corners in some of the museum’s rooms with just a single camera, up to four camera domes are installed in each room, which cover every nook and cranny using intelligent positioning.

The camera’s images are transmitted live to monitors in the Museum’s entrance, ensuring incidents can be recognised and addressed as soon as possible. The video surveillance system also records 24 hours a day, allowing incidents which have gone unnoticed to be scrutinised after the fact. The video material is saved to two ABUS video recorders, which are located in a security area inaccessible to visitors.

Overall, the Abus video surveillance system’s full HD image quality and reliability have impressed: “The image quality of the cameras is outstanding, allowing us to identify individuals in the event of incidents," says museum director Stenger. He continues: “So far, we have not needed to replace or repair any components, and the video surveillance system remains perfectly stable to this day. So I am very happy.”

And what’s more, the visitors are often happy to see the new video system too. It is not unusual for museum guests to come to the entrance area and ask the museum staff to track down their family members who they have lost in the museum’s many rooms, twists and turns. Something the staff can swiftly help with using the live video feed!