In this period, a Kunstkammer, or “cabinet of curiosities,” was somewhere that melded the knowledge of the age with the wonders of the world in material form. Human-made objects, or artificialia, were brought together with their natural counterparts—naturalia—and packed tightly side by side in an enclosed space in order to reflect the fullness of the world and the whole Universe. We have detailed records and descriptions of historical Kunstkammern, including one of the oldest collections in Ambras Castle and the Kunstkammer of the Habsburgs, which can now be admired at Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum. Kunstkammern were also havens of research using scientific instruments. Artificialia and scientificia included artistic and scientific objects of all kinds.
The Pohl-Goldschmidt Kunstkammer is now putting some stunning items from its collection on public display for the first time. In private hands for several generations, the collection brings together objects of the highest artistic and material quality that were originally made to be displayed in Kunstkammern. These are chiefly scientific mathematical objects from the Renaissance that were expertly handcrafted by the most renowned makers of “curiosities” of this kind. What makes this particular collection unique is that we have a written record of the production of the curiosities. Different versions of special types of specific objects, such as these armillary spheres, are presented alongside one another.
Thus the Pohl-Goldschmidt Kunstkammer is at once a unique and unparalleled collection of Late Renaissance instruments with major significance for the academic study of the history of mathematical instruments and a rich source for researching the kind of objects that made up a Kunstkammer.
“The items from the Pohl-Goldschmidt Kunstkammer featuring in the exhibition combine scientific insights, high-precision craftsmanship and artistic design in a truly impressive way,” says Professor Michael Hoch, Rector of the University of Bonn. “That this extraordinary collection is now being made accessible to the public in the Arithmeum is a great boon for the University, for the academic and scientific community and for everyone who comes to visit.”
The makers—who themselves were often scientists, engineers or mathematicians—were not only attempting to reproduce what was already known. Rather, by combining or employing new scientific inventions, they were also endeavoring to create something entirely new and to gain a better understanding of the world and the Universe.
Professor Ina Prinz, Director of the Arithmeum and co-curator of the exhibition, explains: “The example of Christoph Schissler’s trient makes it wonderfully clear how, in 1569, he took the scientific ideas of Peter Bennewitz, alias Petrus Apianus [1495–1552], for creating an instrument to measure the transits of stars and their apexes, implemented them and added a number of practical improvements to them. Measurements with this level of precision had never been possible before, and Schissler crafted not one but two of these gold-plated copper instruments with their highly elaborate engravings and, on the reverse, a depiction of Ptolemy using a quadrant. Many of the objects are now being revealed to the world for the first time ever, and their precise function is being studied and described. Never before, for example, has Christoph Schissler’s exceptional celestial globe been put on display at all, let alone to the general public.”
Karl Pohl, the collector without whom this exhibition could never even have been conceived or put together, is delighted that it is falling into place: “I’m pleased that, in the Arithmeum, my collection has found a place where ‘my little treasures’ will be curated and showcased under expert guidance and in an attractive and appealing ambiance. Above all, I’m happy that it will give young people the chance to get to know the items and explore them and their scientific background.”
The exhibition has been curated by the Arithmeum’s director Professor Ina Prinz and its chief curator Professor Patrick Rocca.
The entire Arithmeum team has also worked with the curators to prepare an engaging program of guided tours, produce an educational video and put together interactive workshops for adults as well as programs for children and schools.
