SubscribeGeneral Introduction. This blog consists of 11 chapters (so far) discussing Austrian and German wunderkammern that can be visited today,despite being up to 450 years old, and comparing these to one I designed. In blog format, the first posting (chapter) is listed last and the last one (this one) first. Refer to [...]
FunstonAntiques.com
G. Keith Funston Jr. 978-443-4111
Tag: cabinet of curiosities
10) Vienna, 200-plus Years of Hapsburg Collecting
10) Vienna, 200-plus Years of Hapsburg Collecting
Vienna is about 300 miles (5 hour’s drive time) east of Innsbruck. About 100 miles into the trip you will pass through Salzburg, home of the Dommuseum. Located in the dome of the cathedral, simply called Dom, this wunderkammer was founded in the late 17th century by [...]
9) The Chamber of Art & Curiosities, Innsbruck
About 6 hours south of Kassel, and on the other side of the Alps is the beautiful city of Innsbruck, Austria, surrounded by snow-capped mountains, and nestled in a lush green valley ablaze, in early May, with the cherry and lilac blossoms.
It is here that Hapsburg Archduke Ferdinand II (1529-1595) moved to in 1564, [...]
8) Kassel, a Wunderkammer in the Mind
Kassel is about 2 hours east of Halle by car. Here the noble family, the Landgraves of Hessen-Kassel, presided over a prosperous community for centuries and, not surprisingly, reflected their good fortune in the family wonder chamber.
Their collection was begun by Landgrave Wilhelm “the Wise” (Wilhelm IV who died 1597), continued by his [...]
7) Francke Cabinet of Curiosities in Halle
Halle is about a 1 ½ hours’ drive northwest of Dresden. This is the home of the Francke Foundation and its cabinet of curiosities and artifacts.
Founded in 1698 by Lutheran theologian and educator August Herman Francke (1663-1727), the Foundation was first and foremost an orphanage and secondly a progressive school for all social classes. [...]