For whom was the Amber Room created?

The Amber Room, recreated for the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg, in the Catherine Palace of the Tsarskoye Selo Museum-Reserve celebrates its twentieth birthday. For the anniversary, she received an exact VR copy, created with the support of PJSC Gazprom, and a mini-exhibition

What epithets did contemporaries bestow upon this unique interior of the Catherine Palace? The room was called the eighth wonder of the world; Alexander Benois wrote that “The Amber Room is one of the main attractions of the fantastic Tsarskoye Selo Palace.” The mystery of its disappearance still inspires treasure hunters, but the Amber Room has already experienced its main adventure – an amazing revival in the same place and in its former splendor: in 2003, after its reconstruction, it was presented to the public. Now in Tsarskoe Selo they are celebrating this date, for which an exhibition has been prepared, a virtual copy of the room has been prepared, and a special cake has even been invented. Fragment of the Amber Room in the Catherine Palace. Tsarskoe Selo.
Photo: EPA/TASS The history of the birth of a masterpiece of amber carving begins in Prussia: in 1701, the Prussian King Frederick I, during his coronation, received as a gift two amber frames made by masters from Danzig at the end of the 1941th century (they were part of the decoration of the Amber Room in the Catherine Palace until 1705). According to some researchers, it was these frames that gave Charlotte, the wife of Frederick I, the idea of ​​​​creating an interior made of amber. The work was supervised by Johann Friedrich Eosander von Goethe, the queen’s favorite architect. After the death of his wife in 1712, Frederick stopped working and later decided to create an amber gallery in Oranienburg, his mother’s homeland. It was probably there that in 1713 and XNUMX Peter I could see amber interiors that made a strong impression on him. In 1713, Frederick I dies, his son Friedrich Wilhelm I transfers the amber panels to one of his palaces in Berlin and creates the first amber cabinet there, which Peter I receives as a gift in 1717. In Russia, boxes with amber panels were initially stored for several years in the Menshikov Palace, then in one of the buildings in the Summer Garden. And only in 1743, Empress Elizabeth ordered the installation of an “Amber Cabinet according to the best art” in one of the chambers of the third Winter Palace. In 1750, she started building a new residence in Tsarskoe Selo, and the architect Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli moved the Amber Cabinet there. Fragment of the Amber Room.
Photo: Ruslan Shamukov The room allocated to him turned out to be much more spacious than the original office – its area is 96 square meters. m, ceilings are almost eight meters high. To fill the interior, Rastrelli leaves one wall free of amber (with windows onto the front ground in front of the palace), and makes the upper and lower friezes of the other three walls picturesque, imitating an amber mosaic. The architect decorates the pilasters between the amber panels with tall and narrow mirrors. In 1755, four Florentine stone mosaics appeared in the room, given to Elizabeth by the then Queen of Bohemia, Maria Theresa. To place them in the interior, mirrors are removed from amber frames, and the remaining free space is filled with amber patterns. Later, by order of Catherine II, the lower frieze along three walls will also be made of amber. In fact, according to experts, the area of ​​amber mosaics made by Russian masters by this time increases to almost 20% in relation to the work of European masters. In the 1941th century, various amber crafts, which were collected by all Russian emperors, would appear in the decoration of the room. In this form, the Amber Room survived until 20, and it was this interior that was recreated by masters XNUMX years ago. Fragment of the Amber Room in the Catherine Palace. 1930. Reproduction. The exact date of shooting has not been established. Amber is a very fragile and short-lived material: parts often fell off the oak panels of the walls and broke on the floor, they had to be replaced. The first restoration of the room took place back in 1830 – Russian and European masters were involved in it. At the end of the 1914th century, restoration was carried out by masters of the St. Petersburg lapidary factory, but this work was not completed. The next restoration was scheduled for XNUMX, but the First World War began. Experts planned the next restoration for the summer of 1941. The city of Pushkin (Tsarskoye Selo) was occupied already on September 17, 1941, the German army left it only in January 1944. Over these years, the Nazis completely plundered the former royal residence; the Amber Room was taken to Königsberg, which was later completely destroyed during the offensive of the Soviet army. Its further fate is still unknown: Soviet specialists managed to discover during a lengthy search only a few melted fragments of amber decor and door parts. Dozens of adventurers are still searching for the amber treasure around the world. Catherine Palace in Pushkin. Tourists inspect amber items in the restored Amber Room, which were exhibited here until 1941. 1987. Photo: Nikolay Naumenkov/TASS Photo Chronicle The prominent Soviet and Russian architect and restorer Alexander Kedrinsky, the founder of the St. Petersburg school of restorers, the author of the project to recreate the Amber Room, sought its restoration for many years. And only in 1979, the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR decided to return its main treasure to the Catherine Palace. “After the restoration was completed, we often heard from visitors to the Amber Room: this is kitsch, bad taste! – says Iraida Bott, deputy director for scientific work at the Tsarskoe Selo State Museum. “Only illiterate people can say this: Berlin at the beginning of the 1700th century was one of the most authoritative European centers of art, here in XNUMX the third academy of arts opened after Rome and Paris, manufactories and crafts flourished. And all this was reflected in the interiors of the Amber Room. It is not for nothing that Alexander Benois wrote about the inimitable taste of the decorators of the time of Elizabeth, about the magnificent, fabulous ensemble of this hall.” Fragment of the Amber Room.
Photo: Ruslan Shamukov The path from the decision to recreate to the implementation of the plan turned out to be long and winding. The specialists had at their disposal only black and white photographs, color autochrome from 1917, fixed watercolors and about 60 small pieces of amber that had fallen off the oak panels over the decades. No one could say what the smallest details of the decor looked like, much less what shade these elements were. In addition, there was no school of amber crafting in the Soviet Union. There were jewelers who made crafts and jewelry from amber, but beads or mouthpieces are one thing, but to cover several tens of square meters of walls with the finest multi-figure carvings and make sure that amber does not crumble and does not lose its properties – no one has ever faced such a task before I didn’t even install it. For a whole year, the involved jewelers developed techniques and learned on the fly how to sharpen tools in a special way so that the amber would not chip, cut it under a microscope, and avoid dangerous air bubbles that caused the amber to crack. At the request of the special research and production association “Restorer”, chemists from the Technological Institute conducted a study on how heat treatment affects the production of different shades of amber. Fragment of the Amber Room.
Photo: Ruslan Shamukov In 1981, an amber workshop was created on the basis of the NPO “Restavrator”, headed by Alexander Zhuravlev. Under his leadership, craftsmen began to recreate the first amber panels; work continued for almost 20 years. At the final stage of work, the German company Ruhrgas provided enormous financial support. In 1984, stonecutter Boris Igdalov came to the Tsarskoye Selo amber workshop (he has headed it since 1997). “We were faced with the task of recreating four Florentine mosaics that had disappeared along with the amber panels, although we only had black and white photographs at our disposal,” said Boris Igdalov. “We turned to the Italians for help, to the workshop where these mosaics were once made, and they gave us good color photographs from the original paintings. But there were problems with the stone: initially the mosaics were made from multi-colored Maremma flints (Maremma is a historical region of Tuscany), and we had to search for suitable stones throughout the country for many years.” Fragment of the Amber Room.
Photo: Ruslan Shamukov In 1997, a surprise happened: one of the missing Tsarskoye Selo mosaics, “Allegory of Touch and Smell,” was discovered in Germany. By this time, this particular composition had already been recreated by the masters of Igdalov’s brigade. Now both works can be seen and compared between the original and the copy. At the end of May 2003, the grand opening of the recreated Amber Room took place in the Catherine Palace. Now, for the anniversary, viewers can see it not only when visiting the palace, but also in the digital space – with the support of PJSC Gazprom, its exact interactive model was created in virtual reality format. DETAILS
“The Amber Room. VR version”: a project in virtual reality format The VR version of the Amber Room is an accurate interactive model of the world-famous interior of the Catherine Palace in virtual reality format. The project was created with the support of PJSC Gazprom. The content developer was Stereoforma. Special equipment allows you to examine the interior of the Amber Room in the smallest detail, zoom in on the finishing elements, and study Florentine mosaics and carvings. In the virtual space, you can touch and examine exhibits, as well as get acquainted with the history of the interior, techniques and materials. The existence of a virtual copy of the Amber Room has given new opportunities to residents of other regions of Russia. In May 2022, with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, as part of the exhibition “Peter I. The Beginning of the Amber Road” (organized by the Tsarskoe Selo State Museum of Art), virtual reality helmets equipped with project content went on a tour of Russian cities – to Kaliningrad (Maritime Exhibition Center Museum of the World Ocean in Svetlogorsk), Voronezh (Historical and Cultural Center “Palace Complex of the Oldenburgs”) and Pskov (Pskov Museum-Reserve). During the three months of operation, this exhibition was visited by almost 13 thousand people. In the future, a VR version of the Amber Room will be seen by residents of remote regions of Russia and abroad. At a small exhibition opened in the amber interior, viewers can see the pre-war Florentine mosaic “Allegory of Touch and Smell,” found in Germany and donated to Tsarskoye Selo in 2000, compare it with the work of specialists from the Tsarskoye Selo Amber Workshop and learn about its history creation, abduction and return to their native palace walls. The idea of ​​the “Amber Room” cake was invented by the press service of the GMZ, and was implemented by the confectioners of the Volkonsky cafe. Cake “Amber Room”.
Photo: State Museum of Tsarskoye Selo The employees of the Tsarskoye Selo State Museum have not lost faith that the original room will someday be found. “The original has not yet been found, but we still believe that she did not disappear without a trace,” says Iraida Bott. “There remains hope that at least the German, Prussian part of this magnificent composition was hidden in another place. Such large-scale and outstanding works of art don’t just disappear!” St. Petersburg has a huge number of impressive attractions that attract tourists. Among them there are those that are steeped in legends and secrets. These include the Amber Room, erected in the beautiful Catherine Palace. For many years, her fate has remained a big question. The history of this attraction is very interesting. The Amber Room was created in the 18th century by the best architects and craftsmen from Germany. It was a gift to the Russian Emperor Peter I from King Frederick William. Peter I was delighted with the work of the craftsmen and, as a token of gratitude, sent the king a cup that was made of ivory with his own hands. Also, 55 grenadiers of enormous stature were sent as a gift. The Amber Room was something of a curiosity, and it took a lot of time to find a worthy place for it. Elizaveta Petrovna issued an order according to which the “amber cabinet” was located in the Third Winter Palace. After some time, the location of the skillful work of the masters was changed. In 1755, Elizabeth ordered the architect Rastrelli to transport the amber panels to Tsarskoye Selo. After this, the Amber Room underwent some architectural changes. In 1763, on the orders of Catherine, Russian craftsmen began to modify the lower tier of the room. They decorated it with amber panels. The duration of the architectural work lasted 4 years. 450 kilograms of pure amber were spent on the decoration. Amber panels are quite fragile, which is why during the Great Patriotic War it was decided not to evacuate the Amber Room, but to leave it in place. To protect against enemy attacks, they tried to hide it. Experienced craftsmen carried out the conservation. The amber panels were covered with paper, after which a layer of gauze and cotton wool was applied. The final layer of conservation was wooden panels. However, this did not help save the Amber Room. During the battle, the Nazi Kunstkomission team removed the amber panels. They were taken to Konigsberg. The last place where there is a mention of the secret Amber Room was Königsberg Castle. It was there that the impressive amber panels and gilded doors were on display until 1944. But towards the end of the military battles, when the defeat of the Nazis was approaching, all the jewelry was dismantled and taken away to an unknown destination. Since then, many have been tormented by the question of the location of the mysterious Amber Room. Among the most popular hypotheses about the possible location of the “amber cabinet” are the following:

• the boxes of jewelry are well hidden and are located in Konigsberg;
• The Amber Room was taken to Germany and buried in unknown salt mines;
• The jewelry was sent to South America and is owned by Nazi descendants.

Also, some researchers believe that in the post-war years, the Soviet leadership sold the Amber Room to the United States as payment for supplies under Lend-Lease. During all this time, there are witnesses who confirm the validity of one or another version. No one has yet been able to find a room. The search for her continues to this day.

Return of the miracle

During an unsuccessful search, the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR decided to rebuild the Amber Room from scratch. Masters worked on recreating the Amber Room in the Catherine Palace for more than 20 years. Work began in 1981. They were produced in accordance with ancient documents and photographs. The amber was supplied by the Kaliningrad Amber Factory; it had to produce about 860 kilograms of amber. It took scientists a long time to understand how amber was colored. However, they were unable to uncover these secrets, so they invented a new technique for coloring the material. The opening of the Amber Room took place in 2003. The legendary room was completely restored for the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg.

Address: GMZ “Tsarskoe Selo”, Pushkin, st. Sadovaya, 7
Opening hours: 10.00-17.00
Closed: Tuesday and last Monday of the month