The great Amber room appeared in Russia back in 1716 as a gift to Peter I from the King of Prussia Frederick William I. This way the head of the western country wanted to celebrate peace between his state and Russia and cementing their alliance against Sweden. The panels made of several tons of gorgeous gemstone, which are often referred to as the Eighth Wonder of the World, suffered a very unhappy fate – after more than two centuries of contented “life” in Russia they were stolen by Nazis during World War II and since that very time the original creation has been missing, though, by the 300 anniversary of St. Petersburg Russian craftsmen managed to restore the masterpiece, which is an exact copy of the stolen room. The new version cost 11 million dollars it took 25 years of hard work. That is the story in a nutshell, if you want to know its details, follow me…
The first elements of the room were made fifteen years before in came to Russia. It was designed by German sculptor Andreas Schlüter, who worked in a baroque style, and when the whole creation was ready, the panels were installed at Charlottenburg Palace, where Friedrich I lived. When Peter I was visiting the palace, he loved the yellow room, and very soon got it as a gift. For this the Russian Emperor gave him 55 giant grenadiers from his army.
In 1755 the Empress Elizabeth decided that the room should be moved from the Winter House to Tsarskoye Selo, or “Czar’s Village”, a summer residence of the court. The panels were to be installed in the Catherine Palace, but the space was larger than the previous one, and the room had to be made bigger. It was really magical and fabulous with six tones of amber and other stones – the panels covered as much as 180 square feet of royal walls and were sparking with all shades of yellow – lemon, pear, honey, mustard, apricot, golden, saffron yellow and many others.
This art piece was one of the most precious items in the emperor collection, and of course, it couldn’t avoid greedy eyes of those who wanted to take it for personal use. Germans believed that it was totally theirs and yet before WWII began, Hitler aimed at the Amber Room as well as many other art treasures. The war let him off the leash, and soon after the invasion of the Nazis the Room left Russia forever. The soldiers who came to take it away packed the great panels just in blink of an eye, and transported to Königsberg. There the room was reinstalled in one of the local museums and people enjoyed its beauty for some time, not a long time, though. When the city got bombed in 1944, the museum was destroyed and we lost the trace of it.
Of course, lots of amber couldn’t just melt. Many researchers believe that it was stolen then hidden somewhere or even sold to private collections. Some of them even say that Joseph Stalin had another Amber Room and installed fake panels at the palace, from where Germans took them. Some parts of the Room were found in Germany, but the seller didn’t know the origin of the item, as he inherited it from his father, a soldier. Now, being well informed about how precious the Room is, please, study the photos very carefully and call the police if you see these pieces anywhere. Or steal them, sell on the black market and be one of the richest people in the world:)
OMG first ever
pretty glare
I remember seeing a program about people searching for the amber room. These people seemed to think that it must exist somewhere but is very hidden. If I remember rightly, they suggested that people had died in the search for it, most in pretty strange circumstances. It may turn up yet.
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I was there. And you aren’t suppose to take pictures or those grandmas will yell at you. So everyone carries their camera around their waist and snaps photos. Every now and then a flash goes off. And the grandmas come a running.
“And you aren’t suppose to take pictures” — for free. In Russia, almost any museum let you make photos if you buy a special additional ticket, quite inexpensive for non-professionals (and quite costly for professionals; a set with light sources after working hours would cost a lot). And they revoke the ticket for camera after any flash
correctamundo. if you appear or even can pay as a semi-professional you can get a permit to take photos in the Amber Room, as in most places in Russia. We were on a tour of the place and some Korean tourists didn’t get the memo and without flash were shooed from the room and escorted from the palace. I wouldn’t risk it without a permit unless you have something to prove, and this is coming from someone who sneaks photos inside the cathedrals all the time. Don’t want to mess with the babushkas.
I see that I have a lot of people that like to imitate me, well it really pleases me.
About the post, drunk Russians should be grateful that people from the West give them something.
Soviets were searching for the Room even in the wreck of “Wilhelm Gustloff”, a ship full of refugees from Eastern Prussia they sunk in early 1945. I do not think it will ever be found.
Interesting, is it not, Soviets bombed the Room into oblivion with the rest of East Prussia (destruction of Krolewiec – Koenigsberg) and then tried desperate measures such as sinking all the ships escaping from the gulf to an open Baltic Sea. Very Russian of them might I mention!
Ohhhh… I almost forgot dear EnglishRussia posts committee, get your science straight. Unlike your comment “lots of amber couldn’t just melt” amber – a natural resin actually melts quite quickly, it burns too, but that is just my digression.
Thank you for the pictures.
You Baltic nazi scum
These refugees deserved it. Fcuk the nazis.
Oh yeah, the toddlers surely deserved to be frozen in the sea… OMFG
And you still wonder why people from the outside world do not find all that many differences between Soviets and Nazis…
Pyoter is correct, lots of amber COULD just melt. In fact I think that room could probably burn quite well once it got going. My question though, is how do they clean it? You’d think it would get a bit dull after a few years.
Pyoter is lier.
Why do we not ever see any photos of the room after it was taken out, and just out of interest the Amber came from Poland?
gold a metal with a boring color. I think people that
collect golden objects must be rich but suffer from bad taste. But on the othere hand aluminum used to be a presious
metal in the beginning of last century. Even some kitchen utensils were made from aluminium and given to the british royal family for some reson, probably they were out of forks and spoons becaus of looting among the staff,
just speculations
All that gliters is gold!
Didn’t they just found the missing pieces (literally) a couple of years ago?
A truly magnificent room! thanks for posting. P.S why so many trolls on this site?