What is a Kunstkammer?

Between the 17th and the 19th century, Berlin Palace housed the “Kunstkammer” (Chamber of Art and Curiosities) of the Prince-electors and Kings of Prussia-Brandenburg. It contained an ever-changing collection of art pieces, natural history objects, scientific instruments, and ethnological exhibits which formed the foundational basis of Berlin’s museums. But what exactly was a Kunstkammer? What was collected in it, how were its objects handled and what could be learned from them about the world? Which historical practices of collecting disappeared and which have returned? Experts from the research project “Window to Nature and Art” on the history of Berlin’s Kunstkammer present their work and are open to visitors’ questions.

With Marcus Becker, Eva Dolezel, Meike Knittel, Diana Stört, and Sarah Wagner (Hermann von Helmholtz-Zentrum für Kulturtechnik).