1696, Kupferstich, aus: LorenzBeger: Thesaurus Brandenburgicus, Bd. 1, Cölln/Spree
This research environment was developed as part of the project A Window on Nature and Art of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG). It offers researchers an overview of the most important sources for the Berlin Kunstkammer and renders them searchable to varying degrees of depth. On the basis of a selection of sources, objects from the Kunstkammer and their interconnections have been virtually reconstructed and can now be researched here. All content represents work in progress (Dec. 2022) and does not claim to be exhaustive.

Research Environment

Titelblatt Inventar 1694
Here researchers will find an overview of key sources for the Brandenburg-Prussian Kunstkammer (and its predecessor and successor institutions), some of which are digitized and/or supplemented with transcriptions (working drafts) and enriched with detailed object information. These sources consist of inventories, travel reports, collection guidebooks . . .

Sources

Greifenklaue, SMB K 4178, Foto: Kunstgewerbemuseum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Saturia Linke
Numerous objects from the Berlin Kunstkammer have survived in the collections of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin or have been integrated into the holdings of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin; others are now in the collection of the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Many of the objects from the early modern Kunstkammer, however, are now known only from historical sources; thus the research environment focuses on a text-based reconstruction of the holdings that is suitable for multidisciplinary use.

Objects

Schloss mit Apothekenflügel
The Berlin Kunstkammer was housed in the Berlin Palace from the late sixteenth century, but changed its location there multiple times. Beginning in the late eighteenth century, holdings from the collection were deaccessioned and transferred to institutions such as the Academy of Sciences (1735) or the university of Berlin (1810). In the nineteenth century, the remaining collection was finally distributed among various newly founded museums.

Locations