Schatzkammer

Schatzkammer is a German word which translates as Treasure Room, and is a term also used in English for the collection of treasures, especially those in precious metals and jewels, of a ruler or other collector, kept in a secure room, often in the basement of a palace or castle. It also often included the wider types of object typical of the Renaissance cabinet of curiosities.

Examples:

• The Imperial Treasury at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria
• The collection of the royal regalia and treasures of the Bavarian Wittelsbach dynasty, housed in the Residenz Palace in Munich, Germany.
• The vast collection of the Wettin Monarchs of Saxony, kept in the Grünes Gewölbe in the Residenzschloss (Royal Castle) at Dresden, Germany.
• The Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom in the Tower of London
• A display of Bourbon treasures in the basement of the Museo del Prado, Madrid
• The Waddesdon Bequest, a 19th century collection of mostly Renaissance treasures now displayed together in the British Museum

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.