Kunstkammers The idea behind the kunstkammers The Kunstkammer or Wunderkammer is a distinctly European phenomenon, which came into being in the mid-1500s. The Universe - a macrocosm - would be reflected in the collection as a microcosm. As such, the Universe was represented by the naturalia created by God - all kinds of zoological, botanical and geological material - and by the man-made artificialia - antiques, works of art, ethnographic items and weapons, scientific instruments and models. Also to be included were libraries, botanical gardens and menageries. The kunstkammers were a demonstrable expression of the Renaissance all-embracing view of knowledge. They were meant to provide an expanded awareness and knowledge of the complexity of nature, and of the altered vision of the world. The voyages of discovery had placed new continents on the map, and the global maritime trade returned to the European ports bearing both exotic wares and new information regarding foreign peoples. The heavens were investigated, and the Earth was no longer the centre of our universe. Astronomical and mathematical studies were paramount in the cultural circles surrounding the princely courts and contemporary scholars - where all this new knowledge was eagerly absorbed. Engraving from Museum Regium 1696 Read more about the people behind the theoretical structure of kunstkammers At the same time the kunstkammers became status symbols for the Renaissance princes and were intended to reflect the prestige of both prince and principality. This sometimes led to a blurring of the image of the ideal kunstkammer, since the interests of the particular prince often characterized the collections. The true kunstkammers were expensive to establish, and were therefore for purely economic reasons restricted to the nobility. The encyclopaedic kunstkammers were developed in the noble courts of Germany around the middle of the 1500s, and within only a few decades several German princely courts were able to present their kunstkammer collections. Read more about the kunstkammers of the European princely houses 'Kunstschränke' These miniature editions of a kunstkammer were conceived by the merchant-prince and diplomat Philipp Hainhofer (1578-1647) of Augsburg. The so-called Kunstschrank was produced for the nobility, and was intended to reduce a macrocosm to an even smaller format - in a cabinet which could be placed in the owner's drawing-room for his enlightenment and entertainment. The contents of the cabinet were as a rule taken from Hainhofer's own collection. Gustav II Adolf's Kunstschrank in the National Museum's exhibition 'Museum Europa' 1993. Some of the cabinet's contents were lent to this exhibition. The most famous of these cabinets was produced between 1625 and 1631, in the middle of the Thirty Years War. It was presented to the Swedish King Gustav II Adolf (1611-32) by the Lutheran citizens of Augsburg, when he entered the city with his troops in 1632. It can be seen today in Uppsala. To previous page Renaissance collections To next page Kunstkammers in Europa