This dataset translates historic catalogue information into a searchable research resource by transcribing entries on Kunstkammer birds from the Verzeichnis der Vögelsammlung des Zoologischen Museums, created in 1812 by Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger (shelf mark: Archiv Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, S 01-01-01, 1982. Old shelf mark: HBSB, ZM S I, Verzeichnis der Vögelsammlung). The birds from the collection of the Brandenburg electors and Prussian kings (Brandenburgisch-Preußische Kunstkammer) are listed in the catalogue as coming from the “Königliche Kunstkammer” (royal cabinet of curiosities). They form an important part of the early collection of the Zoological Museum Berlin (ZMB) founded as part of Berlin University in 1810.
\nThe publication of this research data, created within a project on the Berlin Kunstkammer funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG, Project no. 384478093; “Das Fenster zur Natur und Kunst” / “A Window on Nature and Art”) is intended to enable further reuse and integration of the data.
\nThe information on the specimens listed reflect the status (number, determination) as of May 1812. They do not correspond to the current inventory of around 30 birds from that courtly collection that still exist at the Museum für Naturkunde – Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science today. For the numerical development (decrease) of birds from the Kunstkammer in the collection of the Zoological Museum, see: Frahnert/Fiebig/Knittel 2026 (details below). In 1812, the specimens had not yet been assigned inventory numbers.
\nThe dataset contains verbatim information on:
\nand reference to the folio numbers of the catalogue.
\nIn addition, the dataset includes:
\nFurther reading
\nFor background on the genesis and function of the Verzeichnis der Vögelsammlung, see:
\nAnne MacKinney: Nature on Paper: Documenting Science in Prussia, 1770–1850, Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2024.
\nFor the history of the bird specimens from the Brandenburg-Prussian Kunstkammer, see:
\nSylke Frahnert, Jürgen Fiebig und Meike Knittel: Zur Provenienz von Vogelpräparaten aus der Gründungszeit des Zoologischen Museums Berlin. Eine interdisziplinäre Spurensuche, in: Dorothee Fischer-Kuklau, and Robert Bauernfeind: Weder Fisch noch Fleisch‘. Tierpräparation vor 1850 in Theorie und Praxis (Cultural Animal Studies), Berlin: J.B. Metzlar / Springer, 2026.
\nMeike Knittel: Eurasian Golden Plover ZMB Aves 13021: An Original from the Kunstkammer?, in: The Berlin Kunstkammer: Collection History in Object Biographies from the 16th to the 21st Century, ed. by Marcus Becker, Eva Dolezel, Meike Knittel, Diana Stört, and Sarah Wagner, for Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, and the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Petersberg: Michael Imhof Verlag, pp. 178–187. https://doi.org/10.11588/arthistoricum.1461.c21177
\nFurther information and images of the bird specimens that still exist can be found in the virtual research environment of the Berlin Kunstkammer.: https://berlinerkunstkammer.de/en
\nAcknowledgements
\nThe authors thank the archives team of the Museum für Naturkunde – Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, especially Mandy Ullmann, Fiona Möhrle and Jenny Elmers, for providing (digital) access to the material. Special thanks go to Janna Müller and Marna Schneider for their support as student assistants within the DFG-funded research project “A Window on Nature and Art”, as well as to the colleagues from the Center for Humanities of Nature.
\nA description of the table can be found in the README file.
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