Ecclesiastical treasury in Vienna's Hofburg Palace
The Green Vault in Dresden Castle (as at 1904)

Schatzkammer, a German word which means "treasury" or "treasure chamber", is a term sometimes used in English for the collection of treasures, especially objets d’art in precious metals and jewels, of a ruler or other collector which are kept in a secure room and often found in the basement of a palace or castle.[1] It also often included the wider types of object typical of the Renaissance cabinet of curiosities. A very small but evocative Renaissance room in a tower at Lacock Abbey was designed for keeping and viewing the treasures of the newly rich owner.

The term is normally used of the collections of European rulers or very wealthy families. Well-known examples are:

Church establishments also had treasuries where similar objects were kept, which are often now open as museums. Especially important and largely intact examples are:

Examples outside Western Europe include:

Notes

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