Treasury
A treasury is a room in which a state or church treasure is kept.
In antiquity, valuables were kept in treasure houses , so-called thesaurs - from which the word safe is derived . There were treasure chambers in palaces or fortresses until their function was taken over by vaults or vaults of the banks . Originally, all of the princes' possessions were unsystematically gathered in these treasuries.
From the 15th century one began to sort out documents in libraries and archives. From the middle of the 16th century, works of art were seen as independent. The first art or wonder chambers were set up. A strict distinction between works of art and valuables was not made until the 18th century. Today museums often call the room with the most valuable items their treasure trove.
In churches and monasteries treasuries were common, where the assembled over centuries church treasure was housed and later placed in museum fashion on display. The exhibition space for the art treasure of a cathedral are to this day as Domschatzkammer that a collegiate accordingly as pen Treasury designated.
In many fairy tales and legends, the treasure chamber is the place where the treasure is kept, which usually consists of precious stones , pearls, gold and silver. One of the most famous treasure troves of literature is the one in a cave that Ali Baba discovered.
Examples of treasuries
- Germany
- Aachen Cathedral Treasury
- Dresden: Green vault with the treasures of the Wettins
- Essen Cathedral Treasury , treasures from the Ottonian period
- Hildesheim Cathedral Museum , UNESCO World Heritage Site , together with the Mariendom and Michaeliskirche in Hildesheim .
- Cologne Cathedral Treasury
- Lübeck: Gothic bar room , Marienkirche; Tresekammer , Liebfrauenkirche
- Minden Cathedral Treasure
- Treasury of the Munich residence with the treasures of the Wittelsbach family
- Paderborn Cathedral Treasury
- Quedlinburg Cathedral Treasury
- Trier, treasure chamber of the Trier City Library with the Codex Egberti (world document heritage)
- Austria
- The treasury of the Vienna Hofburg and the Vienna Art History Museum , in which, among other things, the imperial crown and the Austrian imperial crown are shown.
- The Treasury of the Teutonic Order in the Teutonic Order House in Vienna
- Other
- Bolzano Cathedral Treasury
- Istanbul , Treasury of Topkapı Palace
- London , Jewel House in the Tower of London with the British Crown Jewels
- Liechtenstein Treasury