Wunderkammer

• wunderkammer

From German Wunderkammer (literally “room of wonders”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈvʊndəˌkamə/, enPR: vo͝onʹdər-kăm'ər
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈvʊndɚˌkɑmɚ/, enPR: vo͝onʹdər-kä'mər
• Rhymes: -æmə(ɹ), -ɑːmə(ɹ)

Wunderkammer (plural Wunderkammers or Wunderkammern)

1. (historical) A cabinet of scientific curiosities, especially during the late Renaissance.

   Synonyms: cabinet of curiosities, kunstkammer, kunstkabinett

   • 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 207:

     Despite the frequent bric-à-brac dimension to such collections, these theatres of nature invited an appreciation of nature rather different from the Renaissance Wunderkammer which had preceded them.

   • 2007 November 4, Carol Kino, “Boldly, Where No Dog Had Gone Before”, in The New York Times‎:

     Tucked into a small storefront on Venice Boulevard, the museum has been called a modern-day wunderkammer and is the subject of a 1995 book, Mr. Wilsons Cabinet of Wonders (Pantheon), by Lawrence Weschler.

2. (by extension) A place where a collection of curiosities and rarities is exhibited.

Wunder +‎ Kammer

• IPA^(key): /ˈvʊndɐˌkamɐ/

• (file)

Wunderkammer f (genitive Wunderkammer, plural Wunderkammern)

1. Wunderkammer

   Synonym: Kuriositätenkabinett

   Coordinate term: Kunstkammer

   • 2000 March 16, Thomas Kellein, quoting Jean-Hubert Martin, “Die Welt der Kunst der Welt”, in Die Zeit‎:

     Ich habe mich in die Geschichte versenkt und bin auf die Wunderkammern gestoßen. Es ist klar, dass die Wunderkammern nicht nur den Anfang des Sammelns bilden, sondern den Anfang der bewussten Weltwahrnehmung und den Anfang des Museums.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

• “Wunderkammer” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache