Can the Louvre still be saved?

Hanno Rauterberg | Die Zeit | 25th February 2026

News from the Louvre is horrendous – theft, water leaks, ticket fraud and worker unrest. Some of these problems are old news but with 8.7m visitors a year have not seemed urgent. Such complacency had led to an alleged focus on prestige projects rather than essential but mundane maintenance. Says the (German) writer, the result is something “not atypical for France, a crude mixture of overconfidence and self-neglect. We can consider ourselves lucky if [the Louvre] doesn’t suffer total collapse.”