The wunderkammer of Bavarian Duke Albrecht V (1528-1579) was one of the grandest 1st period ones ever built. It housed over 3500 items and was installed over the ducal stables in several rooms, some of which were over 100 feet long (MacGregor, p13-15). Reportedly it consisted of both naturalia and artificialia, and according to contemporary expert, Samuel Quiccheburg, was arranged according to materials (ivory items grouped together, then wood items, etc) (Kenseth, p85). It was very much a microcosm of God’s world, and thus served as a suitable model for Quiccheburg to refer to in his important wunderkammerist’s manual of 1565.

Unfortunately, it was over 95% destroyed by war and voluntary dispersal, and the only vestige today is the collection of precious materials retained by the Bavarian treasury. Fortunately, the items which do remain are well worth a visit.

While the entire wunderkammer before dispersal may well have demonstrated a thirst for universal knowledge, the princely items which remain in the treasury certainly would have inspired the kind of respect and fear that must have favorably impacted Albrecht’s statecraft.

The collection today is placed in 10 adjoining rooms in the Munich Residence in modern, well-lit display cases. Some of these princely objects include:

The earliest English Queen crown extant, made about 1575.

An early goblet, made of silver-and gold-mounted narwhale tusk with a cover of gold-mounted ostrich egg shell. Dated c1530 it is indeed an early wunderkammer item, and shows the early fascination with the exotic.

A spectacular enameled and jeweled gold and silver sculpture of St George and the Dragon.

A tortoise shell crucifix, where the body of Christ is perfectly molded in tortoise shell by a method now lost and irreproducible.

A group of gold-mounted bezoars and jeweled rhinoceros-horn vessels prized for their alleged capacity to neutralize poison in any beverage they contained. (A bezoar is a hairball or other indigestible solid recovered from the digestive system of man or animal. Bezoars have been clinically shown to bind certain poisons, namely arsenic.)

A lapis lazuli platter showing the collaboration of man and nature to create beauty, a commonly repeated wunderkammer theme.

A white enameled and jeweled covered urn fabricated for Albrecht by a local Munich area goldsmith.

A carved 16th century ivory and ruby encrusted casket from Ceylon (Sri Lanka).

Finally, an ancient Olmec jade mask from Central America incorporated into a seated figure by a 16th century European goldsmith.

The treasury (schatzkammer) can be comfortably seen in an hour or so, but additional time should be set aside to view the large Residence Museum which houses it. This Residence was the seat of Bavaria’s ruling dynasty, the Wittelsbachs, until 1918.

The address of the Munich Residence is Residenzstrasse 1, 80330 Munchen (Munich), and the web site, www.residenz-muenchen.de.
References:
The Age of the Marvelous, Joy Kenseth, (Hanover, NH, 1991).
Curiosity and Enlightenment, Arthur MacGregor, (New Haven, CT, 2007).