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Russia - Sankt Petersburg
~ Amber Room at Catherine
Palace ~
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One of the most stunning sights in St. Petersburg is the famous Amber Room in
the Catherine Palace. The daedal panelling from amber covers an area of
more than 55 square meters and has a weight of 6 tons!
The
most elaborate designs, made from different types of amber, reflect the
light in all possible hues and let the room resplendently shine in a golden
glow. This incredible work of art was also named the 8th wonder of the
world.
But what we admire today, is
a replica. The original Amber Room was ordered by
Prussian king Friedrich I for his Palace at Charlottenburg. It was designed by German baroque
sculptor Andreas Schlüter and constructed by the Danish amber craftsman Gottfried
Wolfram.
Between 1701 and 1712 it was installed in the Berlin City Palace. However,
in 1716, the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhlem I gave it to the Russian tsar,
Peter the Great, for an alliance against Sweden in exchange for soldiers
with "guard measures" (very tall soldiers)!
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It was not until 1743 that
the Amber Room was at first installed in the Winter Palace and then in 1755
in the Catherine Palace, where it remained for almost 200 years.
In
1941, during World War II, the Nazis dismantled the room and brought it to
Königsberg, where its trace got los after bomb
attacks by the allies in 1944.
However, from 1976 onwards the Amber
Room was reconstructed by Russian and
German craftsmen in decades of work. Finally, on occasion of the 300th anniversary of the
city of Saint Petersburg 2003, the new Amber
Room
was inaugurate by the Russian President Vladimir
Putin and Chancellor Gerhard Schröder.
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