Sources

The sources listed here consist of key archival materials and documents related to the Kunstkammer, used to research the collection in context of the project. Some of them have been analyzed here for the first time.  A number of these documents have now been studied in detail and made accessible to the public. If a source has been analyzed (e.g., transcribed or supplied with object references), its status is indicated under “Short Description” [Note: WissKI is a synonym for this research environment]. The list represents a work in progress (Dec. 2022) and does not claim to be exhaustive.

Date Signature Identifier Title Short description Author Type of Source kept by

1603

GStA PK, I. HA Rep. 9 Allgemeine Verwaltung, Nr. D2, Fasz. 1, fol. 1r-12r Inventar 1603 Verzeichnus was nach der Churfürstin Catharinen gebornen Marggräfin zu Brandenburg[...] sehligen absterbens, hochloblichen gedechtnus p. in I. Churf. Kunstkammer gefunden worden Inventory of the Kunstkammer. Objects from Inventar 1605 are already recorded here; the document thus represents the oldest surviving inventory of the Kunstkammer, albeit without the textiles included in 1605. Current status: digitized. Inventar Geheimes Staatsarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz

1605

GStA PK, I. HA Rep. 9 Allgemeine Verwaltung, Nr. D2, Fasz. 1, fol. 13r-43r Inventar 1605 Inventarium. Inn der Kunstkammer. den 8. und 9. Novembris Ao. 1605. Im Gewelbe Inventory of the Kunstkammer “im Gewelbe” (“in the vault”), a repository in the Berlin Palace; the majority of the holdings (ca. 1900 objects) were lost in the Thirty Years’ War. Current status: transcribed and digitized (fols. 13r–43v). Inventar Geheimes Staatsarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz

1668

SBB PK, Ms. Cat. A 465, fol. 144r-146r Katalog 1668/1680 Catalogus manuscriptorum Bibliothecae Electoralis Brandenburgicae Coloniensis Catalogue of the library in the apothecary wing of the Berlin Palace, compiled by Johann Raue in 1668. Includes subsequent identification of the naturalia transferred to the Kunstkammer in 1680. Current status: transcribed and digitized; detailed object information (fols. 144r–46r). The entries are based on Ursula Winter’s Die Handschriften der Churfürstlichen Bibliothek zu Cölln an der Spree – Johann Raues Katalog von 1668 (2018). Raue, Johann Katalog Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - Preußischer Kulturbesitz

1685

SBB PK, Ms. boruss fol. 740, fol. 84v-122r Inventar 1685/1688 Verzeichnüß deren Kunstsachen und raritäten, welche in Sr. C. D. Kunstkamer fürhanden Inventory of the “Kunstsachen und raritäten” (“art objects and curiosities”) in the Kunstkammer in the apothecary wing under Elector Friedrich Wilhelm. Originally compiled by Christian Albrecht Kunckel in 1685; copied with notes regarding condition and availability in conjunction with the audit of the collection by Christoph Ungelter in 1688. It comprises the collection areas “Geschnitzte und gedrechselte Kunstsachen” (“Carved and Turned Art Objects”) and “Naturalien” (“Naturalia”), which also included the mathematical instruments from Inventar 1688a. Current status: transcribed and digitized; detailed object information (fols. 84v–121r). Kunckel von Löwenstern, Christian Albrecht Inventar Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - Preußischer Kulturbesitz

1688-1691

SBB PK, Ms. boruss fol. 740. 740, fol. 53r-83v Eingangsbuch 1688/1692a List of the objects contributed to the Kunstkammer by Friedrich III/I, with notes on acquisition in many cases. The list was compiled by Christoph Ungelter between 1688 and 1692. Current status: transcribed and digitized; detailed object information (fols. 53r–78v). Dieses Verzeichnis listet diejenigen Objekte, die Friedrich III./I. in die Kunstkammer gab. Hier finden sich in zahlreichen Fällen Angaben zur Erwerbung. Es wurde von Christoph Ungelter zwischen den Jahren 1688 und 1692 geführt. Bearbeitungsstand: Transkription und Digitalisate vorhanden, tiefenerschlossene Objektinformationen (fol. 53r-78v). Ungelter, Christoph Verzeichnis, Eingangsbuch Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - Preußischer Kulturbesitz

1688-1692

SBB PK, Ms. boruss fol. 740, fol. 2r-25v Eingangsbuch 1688/1692b Verzeichnis, was Kurfürst Friedrich III. in die Kunstkammer gegeben hat List of objects contributed to the Kunstkammer by Elector Friedrich III, with acquisition dates [note by Ungelter: “Von Anno 1688 habe mit Herren Stossio diß gleich lautende Buch gehalten” (“In 1688 I received the book of this name from Herr Stossio”)]. Ungelter, Christoph Verzeichnis, Eingangsbuch Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - Preußischer Kulturbesitz

1688

GStA PK, I. HA Rep. 9 Allgemeine Verwaltung, Nr. D2, Fasz. 1, fol. 125r-166v Inventar 1688a Verzeichnüß der Mathematischen Instrumenten List of mathematical instruments from 1688. It forms a unit together with the copy of “Geschnitzte und gedrechselte Kunstsachen” and “Naturalien.” Current status: transcribed and digitized; detailed object information (fols. 162r–166v). Inventar Geheimes Staatsarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz

1688

SBB PK, Ms. boruss fol. 740, fol. 44r-52v Inventar 1688b
“Verzeichnis, deren Kunstsachen und Raritäten, welche in Sr. Churf. Dl. Kunstkammer furhanden” (“List of Art Objects and Curiosities in His Most Serene Electoral Kunstkammer”) with 348 numbers, presented to Ungelter by Kunckel in 1688, with the handwritten note: “Nach specificirter Ordnung habe ich dieses dem H. Ungeltter überliefert. 1688 Kunckel” (“Delivered to Herr Ungelter according to specific orders. 1688 Kunckel”). The numbers in this list agree with those in Inventar 1688/1685, indicating that it is a review list. Only nos. 1–35 are described in detail; nos. 36–348 are designated only as present or missing.
"Verzeichnis, deren Kunstsachen und Raritäten, welche in Sr. Churf. Dl. Kunstkammer furhanden", 348 Nummern, 1688 von Kunckel an Ungelter übergeben, hdl. Notiz: "Nach specificirter Ordnung habe ich dieses dem H. Ungeltter überliefert." 1688 Kunckel Dieses Verzeichnis stimmt hinsichtlich der Nummern mit Inventar 1688/1685 überein, d.h. es handelt sich um ein Revisionsverzeichnis. Nur Nr. 1-35 sind ausführlich beschrieben, Nr. 36-348 nur als vorhanden oder nicht vorhanden gekennzeichnet.
Kunckel von Löwenstern, Christian Albrecht Verzeichnis Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - Preußischer Kulturbesitz

1688-1693

SBB PK, Ms. boruss fol. 233 Materialbuch Ungelter Verzeichnis deßen, waß H. Ungelter auf die Kunstkammer verfertigen lassen Contains invoices, lists, and letters, and the like regarding accessions and handcrafted works in the Kunstkammer collected by Christoph Ungelter from 1688 to 1693. Current status: digitized; partially transcribed (fols. 1r–3v; fols. 20r–21v) Ungelter, Christoph Materialbuch Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - Preußischer Kulturbesitz

1690

GStA PK, I. HA Rep. 9 Allgemeine Verwaltung, Nr. D2, Fasz. 2, fol. 40r-42v Ungelter Umzug Geheimes Staatsarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz

1694

GStA PK, I. HA Geheimer Rat, Rep. 36 Hof- und Güterverwaltung, Nr. 2710, S. 1-254 Inventar 1694 Inventarium der Churfürstl. Brandenburgischen Kunst-Cammer de Anno 1694 This inventory reflects the holdings of the Kunstkammer after Friedrich III/I had caused dispersed naturalia and art objects to be assembled in the Kunstkammer and the administrator Christoph Ungelter had died in 1693. His successor Lorenz Beger was commissioned to compile a new list of the objects. The inventory contains over 800 object entries, including many of those from Inventar 1685/1688, Inventar 1688a, and Eingangsbuch 1688/1692a, which were subdivided into numerous collection categories. Current status: transcribed and digitized; detailed object information (pp. 1–254) Inventar Geheimes Staatsarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz

1694

570 Ob 441, S. 2–54 Kohfeldt 1905 Eine akademische Ferienreise von Rostock bis Königsberg im Jahre 1694, in: Baltische Studien, N.F. 9 (1905), S. 2–54 Description of the electoral library, armory, and arsenal entitled Eine akademische Ferienreise von Rostock bis Königsberg im Jahre 1694 (An Academic Holiday Trip from Rostock to Königsberg in 1694). The text was edited and published in 1905 by Gustav Kohfeld. The source also mentions some objects that entered the Kunstkammer only in the eighteenth century. Current status: print; digitized; detailed object information for selected passages (pp. 45–51). Beschreibung Universität Greifswald

1696-1701

Beger 1696/1701 Thesaurus Brandenburgicus Selectus […], 3 Bd. Printed luxury publication on the entire Berlin collection of antiquities, with Latin descriptions and numerous engravings. Under Beger, the Antiquities and Medals Cabinet was institutionally separated from the Kunstkammer. Beger, Lorenz Publikation Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg

1696

Bichi 1891 Berlino e la sua corte nell’anno 1696, hrsg. v. Francesco Bandini Piccolomini This description, which was composed under the title “Berlin und sein Hof im Jahre 1696. Reiseerinnerungen des Fra Alessandro Bichi aus Siena” (“Berlin and Its Court in 1696: Travel Memoirs of Fra Alessandro Bichi of Siena”) and published in 1891 in the journal Die Grenzboten. Zeitschrift für Politik, Literatur und Kunst, gives an impression of the library and Kunstkammer and mentions selected objects. Current status: print; digitized; detailed object information for selected passages (p. 27). Bichi, Alessandro Reisebericht Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Bremen

1706

B 3763-1 A, S. 196–222 Hagelstange 1905 Nachrichten über Baudenkmäler sowie Kunst- und Kuriositätenkammern in einer handschriftlichen Reisebeschreibung von 1706, in: Archiv für Kunstgeschichte 3 (1905) Description of the Kunstkammer from 1706, written during the journey of Count Si(e)gmund Albrecht von Rindsmaul from Vienna to the Netherlands in the company of Freiherr Ferdinand von Mallenstein and Dr. Böklin. Its contents were published in 1905 in Alfred Hagelstange’s Nachrichten über Baudenkmäler sowie Kunst- und Kuriositätenkammern in einer handschriftlichen Reisebeschreibung von 1706 (Descriptions of Buildings as well as Cabinets of Art and Curiosities in a Manuscript Travel Report) and supplemented with an introductory commentary. Current status: print; digitized; detailed object information for selected passages (pp. 196–200; 205–11). Rindsmaul, Albrecht Siegmund von Reisebericht, Beschreibung Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg

1708

Anonimo Veneziano 1708/1999, fol. 39r-40v Anonimo Veneziano 1999 Eine Deutsche Reise Anno 1708, hrsg., übers. u. komm. v. Irene Schrattenecker Description of the Kunstkammer from 1708 by an unknown Venetian. The work conveys a vivid impression of the collection rooms in the Schlüter palace and mentions examples of objects. In 1999, the Italian source was edited, translated into German, and published with commentary by Irene Schrattenecker under the title Eine deutsche Reise Anno 1708 (A German Journey in the Year 1708). Current status: print; transcribed; detailed object information for selected passages (pp. 121–23). Anonimo Veneziano Reisebericht, Beschreibung

1713-1740

SBB PK, Ms. boruss. oct. 227, fol. 35r-40v Anonymus A Beschreibung der in der Königlichen Preuß. Residenz Berlin befindlichen Kunst- und Rüst-Cammer nebst denen Lust-Häussern, Kunst-Cammer The anonymous Beschreibung Der in der Königlichen Preuß. Residenz Berlin befindlichen Kunst- und Rüst-Cammer nebst denen Lust-Häussern (Description of the Art Cabinet and Armory of the Royal Prussian Residence in Berlin along with the Summer Houses) was written during the reign of Friedrich Wilhelm I, probably in the 1720s or 30s. It consists of a numbered list of nearly 180 noteworthy objects, organized according to room. Current status: digitized and transcribed; detailed object information (fols. 35r–40v). Beschreibung Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - Preußischer Kulturbesitz

1713

ULB Halle, Pon IIg 902, S. 279-288 Tschirnhaus 1727 Getreuer Hofmeister auf Academien und Reisen Welcher Hn. Ehrenfr. Walthers von Tschirnhauß auf Kißlingswaldau, [et]c. Für Studierende und Reisende, sonderlich Standes-Personen, und Deroselben Hofmeister, zu einer sichern Anleitung zur anständigen Conduite This description of the Kunstkammer and library, based on a visit on February 27, 1713, was composed by Wolff Bernhard von Tschirnhaus under the title Model eines Academie- und Reise-Journals (Model of an Academy and Travel Journal) and published in 1727 as an appendix to the travel writings of his relative Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus. It contains a list of sights worth seeing at the end of the era of Friedrich I. As such, it established a canon that served as a model for visitors’ accounts into the middle part of the century (cf. Anonymus A, Anonymus B, Silbermann 1741). Current status: print; online edition in the Deutsches Textarchiv; detailed object information (pp. 279–88). Tschirnhaus, Ehrenfried Walther von, Tschirnhaus, Wolfgang Bernhard Reisebericht Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt (ULB)

1735

ABBAW, PAW (1700–1811), I-XV-19, fol. 1r-21v Verzeichnis 1735 Verzeichnus der Naturalien [der Kunstkammer] Copy of the list of naturalia in the Kunstkammer, made in late 1734 or early 1735. From fol. 1r to 8v (up to no. 155) it is identical with Inventar 1694, aside from occasional abbreviations or copyist’s errors. The remaining pages record the holdings in the form of an accession list up to 1734. The document (or the copy) was created in conjunction with the transfer of naturalia to the Academy of Sciences; objects marked with an “x” were to remain in the Kunstkammer. Also noted are the objects that were transferred in 1698 to the Kunstkammer and naturalia collection of the Franckesche Stiftungen in Halle. Current status: digitized and transcribed; detailed object information (fols. 1r–21v). Verzeichnis Archiv der Berlin-Brandenburgischen Akademie der Wissenschaften

1741

Mscr.Dresd.App.3091, fol. 104v-113r Silbermann 1741 Anmerckungen derer Auf meiner Sächsischen Reysse gesehenen Merckwürdigkeiten Wie ich solche an unterschiedenen Orten meist nur kürtzlich aufgeschrieben In his Anmerckungen derer Auf meiner Sächsischen Reysse gesehenen Merckwürdigkeiten (Notes on the Remarkable Things Seen on my Trip to Saxony), the Strasbourg organ builder Johann Andreas Silbermann describes his visit to the library and Kunstkammer in 1741. His account also provides insight into touring practices of the time. Current status: digitized and transcribed; detailed object information (fols. 104v–113r). Silbermann, Johann Andreas Reisebericht Sächsische Landesbibliothek – Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Dresden

1742-1752

SBB PK, Ms. boruss qu. 229, fol. 1r-11r Anonymus B Specification derer Sachen auf der Königl. Preuß. Kunst Cammer zu Berlin befindl. Sein. Und jetzo in nachfolgenden Cammern eingetheilet sind. Alß […] The text, entitled Specification derer Sachen so auf der Königl. Preuß. Kunst Cammer zu Berlin befindl. sein (Description of the Things Located in the Royal Prussian Kunstkammer in Berlin), was written between 1742 and 1752 as part of a larger work on “Curiositeten” (“curiosities”) in Berlin. Subdivided according to rooms, it constitutes the first of four parts, with Part 2 devoted to the library, Part 3 to the armory, and Part 4 to the population of Berlin. It lists a selection of 169 objects from the Kunstkammer; the entries were written in Latin letters, probably before the author’s visit, with space left beneath them for supplemental information to be added (in a cursive hand) on location or after the visit. Current status: digitized and transcribed; detailed object information (fols. 1r–11r). Beschreibung Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - Preußischer Kulturbesitz

1756

2" Tc 6620-3/4<c> Küster 1756 Altes und Neues Berlin. Das ist: Vollständige Nachricht von der Stadt Berlin […] aus Diplomatibus, guten und zuverläßigen, theils auch archivischen Nachrichten und den 10 besten Auctoribus erzehlet […], Bd. 3 Description of the Kunstkammer in context of the palace, published in 1756 by Gottfried Küster, director of the Friedrichswerdersches Gymnasium, as the third part of the four-volume series Altes und Neues Berlin (Parts 1 and 2 published together with Johann Christoph Müller). The description of the location and furnishings of the Kunstkammer is based on older sources, and a number of objects that had long since been removed after 1735 are still mentioned. Current status: print; transcribed; detailed object information (pp. 18–20, 539–50). Küster, Georg Gottfried Beschreibung Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - Preußischer Kulturbesitz

1756

SMB-ZA, I/KKM 40, Bl. 147-181 Bestandsaufnahme 1756 Alte Verzeichniße derer auf die königl. Kunstkammer befindl. Sachen so viel ich ireßelben gefund. Berlin d. 18ten September 1756. Stosch In 1756, Kunstkammer administrator Stosch assembled a sixty-eight-page portfolio of older lists and catalogues (first half of the eighteenth century) for the Kunstkammer collection, which he used as the basis for a review of the holdings. Stosch, Friedrich Wilhelm Zentralarchiv der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin

1768

ZMB IX/1277 (Inv. Nr.: ZM-B 1273) Kupferstich eines Fuchses mit zwei Schwänzen Johann Elias Ridinger: Genaue und richtige Vorstellung der wundersamste[n] Hirsche[n] sowohl als anderer besonder[er] Thiere, welche von großen Herren selbst gejagt, geschoßen, lebendig gefangen, oder gehalten worden, Augsburg 1768, Bl. 34 Im Archiv des Museums für Naturkunde Berlin überliefertes beschnittenes und nachträglich koloriertes Einzelblatt. Der Stich wurde 1768 als Blatt 34 in Ridingers Werk über „besondere Thiere“ veröffentlicht und zeigt einen 1734 erjagten Fuchs, dessen Balg auch Teil der Kunstkammer-Sammlung war. Der Kupferstich befand sich im Königlichen Zoologischen Museum (später Museum für Naturkunde Berlin). Als Einzelblatt wurde er im Jahr 2000 aus der Kustodie für Säugetiere übernommen. 20 weitere Stiche Ridingers befinden sich heute ebenfalls im Archiv des MfN. Ridinger, Johann Elias Abbildung, Kupferstich Museum für Naturkunde – Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitätsforschung

1769-1786

A 2117 RES::2 Nicolai 1786 Beschreibung der Königlichen Residenzstädte Berlin und Potsdam, aller daselbst befindlicher Merkwürdigkeiten, und der umliegenden Gegend (Band 2), 3. Aufl. Description of the Kunstkammer and Antiquities Cabinet in the third edition of the Beschreibung der königlichen Residenzstädte Berlin und Potsdam […] (Description of the Royal Residence Cities of Berlin and Potsdam […]) by the publisher and author Friedrich Nicolai. The city guide also describes the other public and some private collections in Berlin. Current status: print; transcribed; detailed object information (pp. 791–802). Nicolai, Friedrich Beschreibung Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg

1779-1999

MfN, HBSB, Zool. Mus., S I, Bloch, Bd. 1–4 Verzeichnisse Bloch 19. Jh. Multiple volumes of files with archival material related to the collection of Marcus Elieser Bloch. Volume 1 contains a register of Bloch’s mammal collection compiled after his death (transcribed) and a diary entitled “Birds and Fish” from 1779. Volume 2 contains the catalogue of Bloch’s bird collection; Volume 3 contains photocopies of files from the archives of the Academy of Sciences (ABBAW) related to the purchase of the collection (partially transcribed). Volume 4 contains photocopies of GStA files, documentation from the planning of an exhibition on Bloch (1999). Verzeichnis Museum für Naturkunde – Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitätsforschung

1793

SMB-ZA, I/KKM 40, Bl. 299-339 Inventar 1793 Verzeichnis derer in dem Königl[ichen] Kunst und Naturalien Cabinetl befindl[ichen] Sachen 1793 Seventy-nine pages, 325 objects. The list reflects an older state of the collection. It probably represents the inventory compiled in 1756–57 on the basis of older lists by Kunstkammer administrator Stosch after his review of the holdings. In 1793 after Stosch’s death, this inventory was recopied, but not updated. See also the note on the title page: “Dieses Verzeichnis von des sel. Geh. Rath Stosch Hand enthält die wirklich vorhandenen Sachen mit beigesetzten Nummern des alten Inventarii [d.i. Inventar 1694]” (“This list written by Geh. Rath Stosch of blessed memory contains the things actually present, with numbers from the old inventory [i.e. Inventar 1694]”). Numerous objects and material groups known to have been present in the Kunstkammer in the second half of the eighteenth century are not recorded in it. Inventar Zentralarchiv der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin

1793

SMB-ZA, I-KKM 40, S. 301-303 Verzeichnis Naturalien 1793 Verzeichnis der Naturalien in der Kunstkammer 1793 List of the naturalia in the Kunstkammer in 1793, shortly before Jean Henry was installed as warden of the Art and Medals Cabinet; part of the Verzeichnis derer in dem Königl[ichen] Kunst und Naturalien Cabinet befindl[ichen] Sachen 1793 in Abschrift (Register of Objects Present in the Royal Art and Naturalia Cabinet in 1793, Transcribed). It derives its wording from the inventory of 1735 and lists seventy objects. Current status: transcribed; detailed object information (pp. 301–3). Verzeichnis

1794

Grundriss Kunstkammer 1794 Ausschnitt des dritten Obergeschosses aus dem Plan des Berliner Schlosses von 1794 Portion of the third upper floor from the 1794 plan of the Berlin Palace. To the left of the Knight’s Hall are the rooms of the Antiquities and Medals Cabinet (411, 412, 414), to its right those of the Kunstkammer (416, 417, 418, 419, 422, 423). The two areas were connected by a corridor (415) leading past the Knight’s Hall. Abbildung, Grundriss

um 1800

MfN, HBSB, Zool. Mus., S I, Bloch 1.1, fol. 1r-22v Verzeichnis Museum Blochianum Museum Blochianum sive Index systematicus Rerum  naturalium [...] / Verzeichnis der hinterlassenen sehr vortrefflichen Naturaliensammlung des berümhten (sic) Marcus Elieser Blochs. Catalogue of Bloch’s mammal collection compiled after his death, consisting of two parts. Two hands participated; shows deletions and corrections. The list includes wet and dry specimens of mammals, including human specimens. Its contents overlap to a large extent with objects from the Kunstkammer, above all from the period after the Prussian king’s acquisition of the Bloch collection. Current status: transcribed. Verzeichnis Museum für Naturkunde – Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitätsforschung

1805-1806

ABBAW, PAW (1700–1811), I-XV-32 Acta Naturalienkabinett 1805-1806 Acta Naturalienkabinett 1805, 1806 Correspondence between Jean Henry and the directorate of the Academy of Sciences regarding (possible) acquisitions (purchases and exchanges involving collections such as those of [Johann Gustav Adolf] Buirette [von Oehlefeld], [Johann Andreas] Riemer, [Christoph Friedrich Wilhelm] von Hagen, and [Alexander von] Humboldt); collection furniture; payment of invoices (fish specimens); conflict over the allocation of minerals (Kunstkammer vs. mining department); installation, payment, and viewing of the “Relief des Schweizerischen Gebirges” (“Relief of the Swiss Mountains,” i.e. topographical relief of Switzerland); the transfer of ethnographica (“Chinese,” “American”) and antique vases by the king. Archiv der Berlin-Brandenburgischen Akademie der Wissenschaften

1805

GStA PK, I. HA Rep. 76 Kultusministerium, Ve, Sekt. 1, Abt. XV, Nr. 31, Bd. 1, S. 6-15 Henry 1805 Allgemeines Verzeichnis des Königlichen Kunst-, Naturhistorischen und Antiken-Museums Guidebook written by Jean Henry and entitled Allgemeines Verzeichniss des Königlichen Kunst-, Naturhistorischen und Antiken-Museums (General Catalogue of the Royal Art, Natural-Historical, and Antiquities Museum). It offers insight into the systematic subdivision of the collection and mentions particular highlights and larger collection complexes such as mollusks, specifying their number. The catalogue conveys an impression of the enormous number of objects added to the collection during the years of Henry’s administration. Current status: print; transcribed; detailed object information (pp. 7–15). Henry, Jean Museumsführer Geheimes Staatsarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz

1809

ABBAW, PAW (1700–1811), I-XV-10 Acta Naturalienkabinett 1809 Acta Das Kunst- und Naturalienkabinett betreffend. 1809. Archiv der Berlin-Brandenburgischen Akademie der Wissenschaften

1809

ABBAW, PAW (1700–1811), I-XV-10 Acta Kunst- und Naturalienkabinett 1809 Acta betr. das Kunst- und Naturalienkabinett 1809 Correspondence from 1809–10 between Jean Henry and the directorate of the Academy of Sciences regarding Kunstkammer objects, above all fossils and minerals, returns from Paris (incl. crystalline gold, gemstones, plaster casts, Diana automaton), the Adams Mammoth, and reproductions (casts, illustrations, engravings) of Kunstkammer objects. Archiv der Berlin-Brandenburgischen Akademie der Wissenschaften

1810-1935

MfN, HBSB, Zool. Mus., S I, Kataloge, Frühe Kataloge Säugetiere, 1-6 Frühe Kataloge Säugetiere 1810-1935 Zool. Mus., Frühe Kataloge Säugetiere In addition to accession catalogues and partial lists from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, this source consists of a number of mammal registers from the early period of the Zoologisches Museum Berlin, including an “Inventarium der Säugetiere” (“inventory of mammals”; vol. 2) and an “Inventarium der Affen, Nager, et cet.” (“inventory of monkeys, rodents, etc.,” presumably compiled in 1822; vol. 6) whose contents include animal specimens from the Kunstkammer. Inventar Museum für Naturkunde – Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitätsforschung

1810 - Ende 20. Jh.

MfN, HBSB, Zool. Mus., S I, Kgl. Kunstkammer Verwaltungsakte 1812-1831 Compendium of files assembled in retrospect and comprised of a number of handwritten and typed documents from various file collections of the Zoologisches Museum, compiled on the basis of their shared connection to the Berlin Kunstkammer. Current status: digitized and transcribed. Verwaltungsakte Museum für Naturkunde – Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitätsforschung

1812

MfN, HBSB, Zool. Mus., S I, Illiger 1812 Illiger 1812 Verzeichnis der Vögelsammlung des Zoologischen Museums Information on around thirty taxidermy birds, compiled from the register of the bird collection of the Zoologisches Museums prepared by Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger in May 1812. The partial information recorded here relates to taxidermy birds that still survive to this day. The bird collection of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin contains around thirty objects that are identified in labels and catalogue entries as having come from the Kunstkammer. The other Kunstkammer birds are no longer present, having been sold, destroyed during World War II, or otherwise lost. Illiger, Johann Karl Wilhelm Verzeichnis Museum für Naturkunde – Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitätsforschung

1831

Ledebur 1831 Geschichte der Königlichen Kunstkammer in Berlin History of the Kunstkammer from its founding, allegedly under Elector Joachim II, to the year 1830. Includes information on key sources, accessions and deaccessions, administrators of the Kunstkammer, and historical events that impacted the collection. The historian Leopold von Ledebur served as director of the Kunstkammer from 1830 until its dissolution; with this publication, he composed the first chronological summary of its history. Ledebur, Leopold von Publikation Harvard University Library

1838

SM 30.13 Grundriss Kunstkammer, Schinkel Gegenwärtiges Local der Kunstkammer im Königlichen Schloße Ground plan of the Kunstkammer in the Berlin Palace by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, January 1838. It shows the spatial situation after the naturalia had been transferred to the newly founded university in 1810, the antiquities and coins to the Altes Museum, and the “Patriotic Antiquities” and Egyptian artifacts to Monbijou Palace. The ground plan reveals the emphases that would emerge in subsequent decades. Ethnography and craft, previously combined in the Ivory Cabinet, were now distributed over a number of rooms. The former Medals Cabinet was now occupied by “administrative spaces” for the new curator of the collection, Leopold von Ledebur, who would determine the essential form of the collection until its dissolution in the 1870s. Franz Kugler’s Beschreibung der in der Kgl. Kunstkammer zu Berlin vorhandenen Kunst-Sammlung (Description of the Art Collection in the Royal Kunstkammer of Berlin) from 1838 documents the holdings. Schinkel, Karl Friedrich Abbildung, Grundriss Kupferstichkabinett Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

1838

Kugler 1838 Beschreibung der in der Kgl. Kunstkammer zu Berlin vorhandenen Kunst-Sammlung Printed description and list of art objects following the institutional integration of the Kunstkammer into the newly founded Altes Museum. The art historian Kugler organizes the objects chronologically from an artistic perspective, according to schools and genres. Digitized; objects not yet catalogued in WissKI. Kugler, Franz Publikation University of Oxford

1838

Ledebur 1838 Das Königliche Museum vaterländischer Alterthümer im Schlosse Monbijou zu Berlin Printed and partially illustrated description of the “Patriotic Antiquities” which, due to the considerable increase in the number of objects, were deaccessioned from the Kunstkammer even before the founding of the Altes Museum and were housed in Monbijou Palace, later in the Neues Museum. Ledebur, the director of the Kunstkammer, categorizes the objects according to their place of discovery. Digitized; objects not yet catalogued in WissKI. Ledebur, Leopold von Publikation Zentral- und Landesbibliothek Berlin

1844

Ledebur 1844 Leitfaden für die Königliche Kunstkammer und das Ethnographische Cabinet zu Berlin Overview of the holdings in the palace composed by Ledebur for visitors to the Kusntkammer. He subdivides the collection into three parts: the section for art (in which objects are listed according to material, then according to genre and function), the section for history (in which objects are listed according to their relation to the royal house, the fatherland, and foreign countries), and the section for ethnology (in which objects are listed first according to continent, then according to genre and function). The guide provides a general overview of the contents of the collection and highlights individual objects. Digitized; objects not yet catalogued in WissKI. Ledebur, Leopold von Publikation Zentral- und Landesbibliothek Berlin

1854-1858

GStA PK, I. HA Rep. 137, Generaldirektion der Staatlichen Museen, II G, Nr. 3-18 Verzeichnis 1854/1858 Verzeichnisse der einzelnen Abteilungen der Kunstkammer im Neuen Museum Inventories of the various sections of the Kunstkammer in the Neues Museum, including ethnology and the Antiquarium as well as the Ägyptisches Museum. Current status: objects not catalogued in WissKI. Verzeichnis Geheimes Staatsarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz

ab 1857

Generalkatalog Mammalia Catalogus generalis Musei Zoologici Berolinensis, Mammalia I In addition to accession catalogues, since the 1850s the Zoologisches Museum of the university in Berlin has kept collection catalogues known as “Generalkataloge” (General Catalogues). Here for the first time, all objects were assigned inventory numbers that are still used today. The Generalkatalog Mammalia also lists the taxidermy mammals from the Kunstkammer that were still present in the mid-nineteenth century and have been catalogued in WissKI. Katalog Museum für Naturkunde – Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitätsforschung

1858

SMB-ZA, I-KKM 49 Verzeichnis 1854/1858 Verzeichnisse der einzelnen Abteilungen der Kunstkammer im Neuen Museum, inklusive Ethnologie, Antiquarium, auch Ägyptisches Museum. Bearbeitungsstand: Objekte bislang nicht in WissKI erfasst. Verzeichnis Zentralarchiv der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin

1860

Löwe 1860 Die Königlichen Museen für Kunst und Alterthum Guide to the collections of the Altes and Neues Museum organized according to floors, rooms, and sections. It provided visitors with an overview of the holdings and their spatial location. Philipp Löwe gives an early impression of the contents of the five Kunstkammer rooms, listing objects that were especially noteworthy. Digitized; objects not yet catalogued in WissKI. Löwe, Philipp Museumsführer Zentral- und Landesbibliothek Berlin

1861

Bor. 176 n Schasler 1861 Die Königlichen Museen von Berlin: Ein prakitisches Handbuch zum Besuch der Galerien, Sammlungen und Kunstschätze derselben Guide to the collections of the Altes and Neues Museum organized according to rooms and sections. It provided visitors with an overview of the holdings and their spatial location. Max Schasler’s description gives an early impression of the contents of the five rooms of the Kunstkammer in the Neues Museum (ca. 1855–61), which in this publication are described as “Museum der Kleinkünste, der Kunstindustrie und historischen Kuriositäten” (“Museum of the Minor Arts, Industrial Arts, and Historical Curiosities”). Particularly noteworthy objects are marked with an asterisk. Digitized; objects not yet catalogued in WissKI Schasler, Max Museumsführer Bayerische Staatsbibliothek

1872

Lessing 1872 Führer durch die Ausstellung älterer kunstgewerblicher Gegenstände im Königl. Zeughause : Berlin, September - Oktober 1872. Guide to the “Ausstellung älterer kunstgewerblicher Gegenstände im königlichen Zeughause” (“Exhibition of Older Decorative Art Objects in the Royal Armory”) of 1872, where a number of Kunstkammer objects were shown. It was written by Julius Lessing, the first director of the Kunstgewerbemuseum in Berlin from 1867 on. Only a few of the objects mentioned in the exhibition guide can be identified. The success of this exhibition gave the impetus to transfer most of the Kunstkammer holdings in the Neues Museum to the Kunstgewerbemuseum. Digitized; objects not yet catalogued in WissKI. Lessing, Julius Ausstellungsführer Zentral- und Landesbibliothek Berlin

1875

Kunstkammerinventar 1875 Ten-volume inventory of the Kunstkammer holdings transferred to the Kunstgewerbemuseum in 1875 on the basis of Bode’s report (Gutachten Bode 1875). The inventories are organized according to material: glass (vol. 1); porcelain and faience (vol. 2); maiolica (vol. 3); wood and leather (vol. 4); ivory, horn, amber, stone, etc. (vol. 5); gold, silver, and jewelry (vol. 6); bronze, tin, and enamel (vol. 7); iron and lead (vol. 8); fabrics (vol. 9); and miscellany and addenda (vol. 10). Currently being digitized by the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin; objects not yet catalogued in WissKI. Inventar Kunstgewerbemuseum Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

1875

SMB-ZA, I-KKM 38, Bl. 51r-58v Gutachten Bode 1875 Gutachten über die Verhandlungen vom 20. Mai v. Jahres wegen der Überweisung der kunstgewerblichen Erzeugnisse der Kunstkammer der Königl. Museen an das Gewerbemuseum, 9. Januar 1875 In conjunction with the cabinet order of 1873 for the transfer of all objects of decorative art from the royal museums to the new Kunstgewerbemuseum, Wilhelm von Bode was commissioned to write an expert opinion as to which Kunstkammer objects in the Neues Museum should be deaccessioned. He also offered recommendations as to how the remaining Kunstkammer holdings should be distributed among the royal museums. These recommendations were implemented, resulting in the transfer of around 6500 Kunstkammer items to the Kunstgewerbemuseum (see Kunstkammerinventar 1875). By 1878, this process was concluded and the Brandenburg-Prussian Kunstkammer was therewith permanently dissolved. Bode, Wilhelm von Gutachten Zentralarchiv der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin

1895

Führer Monbijou 1895 Führer durch die Sammlung des Hohenzollern-Museums im Schloss Monbijou Records the Kunstkammer holdings, especially memorabilia of the Prussian dynasty, that were transferred in 1877 from the Neues Museum to the newly founded Hohenzollern Museum in Monbijou Palace. Current status: digitized; objects not yet catalogued in WissKI. Museumsführer Zentral- und Landesbibliothek Berlin

1930

Ident.Nr. ZA 2.20./01268 Fotografie, Instrumentenkammer, Ausst. 1930 Rekonstruktion der Instrumentenkammer der Kunstkammer im Schloss auf der Ausstellung "Altes Berlin" Photograph by Gustav Schwarz showing the reconstruction of the so-called Instrument Cabinet (Room 991) at the exhibition Altes Berlin – Fundamente der Weltstadt (Old Berlin – Foundations of the Metropolis), which took place from May 23 to August 3, 1930, on the grounds of the Radio Tower in Berlin. Digitized. Schwarz, Gustav Abbildung, Fotografie Zentralarchiv der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin

1930

Reichl 1930 Zur Geschichte der ehemaligen Berliner Kunstkammer, in: Jahrbuch der Preußischen Kunstsammlungen The first comprehensive history of the Kunstkammer since Ledebur 1831, written by art historian Otto Reichl. This publication, which includes architectural documentation, is the result of Reichl’s extensive research on the Kunstkammer as well as his rediscovery of the collection rooms in the late 1920s. Reichl, Otto Publikation

1930

Ident.Nr. ZA 2.20./01267 Fotografie, Naturalienkammer, Ausst. 1930 Rekonstruktion der Naturalienkammer der Kunstkammer im Schloss auf der Ausstellung "Altes Berlin" Photograph by Gustav Schwarz showing the reconstruction of the so-called Naturalia Cabinet (Room 990) at the exhibition Altes Berlin - Fundamente der Weltstadt (Old Berlin – Foundations of the Metropolis), which took place from May 23 to August 3, 1930, on the grounds of the Radio Tower in Berlin. Digitized. Schwarz, Gustav Abbildung, Fotografie Zentralarchiv der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin

1931

Reichl 1931 Die Staatlichen Museen auf der Ausstellung "Alt-Berlin". Berliner Museen Focuses on the Kunstkammer exhibition at the fair Old Berlin; includes a description of the three exhibition spaces, two of which were reconstructions of the historical collection rooms in the palace; mentions specific objects, such as the tree fragment with stag antlers or the statue of Cupid Carving His Bow. Reichl, Otto Beschreibung, Publikation Staatliche Museen zu Berlin Preußischer Kulturbesitz

1933

SPSG, PK 2668/4 Grundriss Schloss, 3. OG, 1933 Kretschmar und Oellerich: Berliner Schloss, Grundriss, Drittes Obergeschoss, 1933 Ground plan of the third upper floor from the 1933 plan of the Berlin Palace. The numbering of the Kunstkammer rooms on this plan served as a reference for the current project. Abbildung, Grundriss Stiftung Preußische Schlösser und Gärten Berlin-Brandenburg

1995-

SMB-digital SMB-digital Online catalogue of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, in which a number of surviving Kunstkammer objects are published. Datenbank Staatliche Museen zu Berlin Preußischer Kulturbesitz

2000-

Sammlungen der HU online Online catalogue of the collections of the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, in which a number of surviving Kunstkammer objects are published. The objects in question are primarily those that are still housed in the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, which was part of the HU until 2009. The Kunstkammer objects were researched and catalogued in conjunction with the exhibition Theater der Natur und Kunst (Theater of Nature and Art). Datenbank Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

2010-

MfN Collection Management System Collection databases of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, whose contents also include surviving Kunstkammer objects. The objects can be researched via inventory number and species name. The MfN is currently in the process of making its objects accessible online through a data portal. In the future, background information on collectors (Accession Agents) such as the Berlin Kunstkammer will also be made available to the public. Datenbank Museum für Naturkunde – Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitätsforschung

2012-

museum-digital:brandenburg Platform on which large and small museums publish information on their objects. Its users include the Stiftung Preußische Schlösser und Gärten Berlin-Brandenburg, which publishes Kunstkammer objects there. Datenbank