It's fabulous. Since it can be broken into smaller pieces & stewn about, consider that. Might provide more balance that having it dominate on a single wall.

Add some battery powered lights under the cabinets or place some small lamps there.

You can also tone it down a bit so it's not so brown by placing a color on the back side (accomplished via cardboard insets covered by fabric, paper or paint) so as not to negatively affect future resale of the piece.

LOVE IT. Get that one-of-a-kind piece out of storage & into your life!

Hmm...

I imagine the height will matter, if I were to incorporate these pieces in the midst of "traditional" cabinets, or is that not exactly what you meant? I could put 2 - 3 pieces together and have the other piece in the eating area as a hutch. I also will need countertop area, obviously and this shrunk does not really provide that as the height is lower than typical. So, that is my dilemma in trying to figure out how to incorporate this in the kitchen layout. Am I making sense?

I thought it was a wall unit.

Interesting...that word "Schrank" is very similar to "Schank" (not sure if that is the correct spelling). "Shank" is our traditional Pennsylvania Dutch word for "cupboard". carolins, that is a very striking piece. My grandfather gave tours of Switzerland, and that reminds me of something one would see there.

Shrank .. know it well! Mom bought me one years ago and I found it a new home about 10 years ago. Shrank means "closet".

You cannot split them apart as they go together like a puzzle .. HUGE project to put together and take apart.

IMO, it would not look good in a kitchen. Works best in a living room and the center, glass part probably has lighting in it.

Young Germans call this "alt Deutsch" or "old German" style.

Carolins I am not sure the pictures are really a German shrunk, since normally they have audio storage, dish storage and clothes storage. Reason is the ones I have seen did not have a level at normal kitchen cabinet height. Normal kitchen cabinet height is 36 inches. So the base would have to be raised, the depth is normally 24 inches in a kitchen so that would have to match on the shrunk. Being a woodworker this can be done very easy. Normally you don't see the sides of the cabinets so add or removing depth is a snap. So this can be done but you want the levels to flow from one cabinet to the next. Like the picture above the counter height is about the same, the height is perfect.

It would make an interesting piece in your kitchen.

Adolf Bonaparte

Adolf was German. Bonaparte was short. (shrunk)

Me Uggh. Lamb shank yum.

A German shrunk.....
refers to a highly decorative piece of furniture that combines aspects of a curio, clothing wardrobe and a cabinet. They are made from light coloured oak wood and they come in various shapes and sizes.

This Wohnzimmerschrank is definitely something you would find in a living room in Germany. Storage for glasses, china, Schnaps, tableclothes and so on. It's something older people used to own. It's considered old-fashioned...
Sometimes it's also called Bauern-Barock. (Farmers barock)

The pictures I posted were just to show how a 'living room' cabinet could be incorporated in a kitchen. Not to say that this particular 'Wohnzimmerschrank' would work as well. Difficult to say without knowing the measurements of the 'schrank' and the kitchen.

The Dutch word for cabinet is 'kast' :-) Kitchen cabinet = keukenkast, wardrobe = kledingkast.
I'm always confused by all the English words for the different 'kasten'.

I have a unit just like the one in the original post. DDRogers1 - Please share any information that you received on the German Shrunk. Thanks!

Hi John, are you able to see the previous comments? That's all the info I have, and unfortunately, my idea didn't work out after all...

This picture doesn't really look like the shrunks or shranks I saw when living in Germany..... But I could be wrong. The one I have is a double door with bevelled mirrors and 2 drawers at the base. It also has carvings that I have not been able to find anywhere. I was told by my German family that shrunks or shranks were made without screws, nails etc. to be able to take apart for careful transport. Although there are some nails, they are only used to hold the major pieces together. I have moved this Huge Beautiful piece from across the US without any problem. I wish all furniture was made this well and collapsable.

A kitchen with furniture for storage and work surfaces instead of rows and rows of wall cabinets and base cabinets is called an unfitted kitchen. I've begun collecting antiques (and making) furniture for our kitchen which I plan on changing to an unfitted kitchen, if I ever get the time to do anything for myself.

Mine is made a little different from yours, mine have 6 sections to it. The glass doors also has a light in it. I use it as nix nacks, but it is a China Cabinet. Mine was bought in Germany 20+ years ago from my niece and her husband when they we're stationed in Germany, back then they bought it for well into the money. It is a German Shrunk. Oops came it upside down.

Here is the top part of a shrunk,that I am trying to sell.

I bought a 3 piece Shrink tonight, I am rearranging my Kitchen it live there so all can Admire it's Beauty...

Happy 2020 Holidays

I bought this one in 1986 in Germany. Mahogany wood. It's an antique piece.

It's something a lot of Military families bought while stationed in Germany. I know my parents bought one while we were in Mainz, Germany and it's still in their living room. I must admit it was a nice what I would call contemporary piece at the time. 76-78 time frame.

If you have one of these German Shrunks, you should consider hanging onto to it! They are worth a LOT of money! I see them selling for as much as $11,000!

If you have one of these German Shrunks, I suggest you hang onto it. They are valuable. I see them selling for as much as $11,000.00!