Wunderkammer

Skeletons, framed insects. moon rocks and bats. need some? They have it all. I like to head there when I need to buy someone a really weird present.

Wunderkammer is like a Goth wonderland. It sells some of the creepiest and most bizarre artefacts that are as interesting artistically as they are scientifically. The store sells all kinds of exotic mounted and framed insects and small animals (like beetles, butterflies, stick insects, etc). It also sells a variety of taxidermy animals that have been positioned in weird and wonderful ways, such as a giant tarantula and scorpion in attack poses, housed inside a glass dome that says «Mortal Combat» — pretty amazing, huh? My friend also bought a large print of a scientific drawing of a technicolour beetle that she has framed as a piece of art. It’s beautiful.
Wunderkammer also sells a large selection of fossils and meteoric rocks.
Best of all, much of what they sell is quite affordable, considering the work that has clearly gone in to sourcing and preserving the animals.

Wunderkammer in German means ‘Wonder Chamber’, and this certainly is a chamber of wonders. It’s the kind of place you’re likely to find Indiana Jones doing some shopping. It’s a museum and retail store rolled into one, and it specialises in odd specimens, artefacts, antiques and objects that are too strange for words. Like what? Well, like collections of taxidermy animals, butterflies, insects, bugs and spiders. Fossils, Antique science and medical instruments. Botanical and wildlife artworks from local artists. Mineral samples. Different sized globes, some costing a few thousand dollars. Papier-​mâché globes, which make great gifts. Collectable seashells and coins. The drinking bird that fascinated Homer Simpson. Old maps, kaleidoscopes, science kits for kids, barometers, religious relics, medical skeletons and skulls, antique books and other curious bits and pieces you’d never expect to find anywhere else. The items are always changing so you never know what you might find on your next visit. A word of warning, be carefully if you have a backpack on in the store. You don’t want to be swinging it all over the place, and heaven forbid, knock over a priceless relic.