On a frosty winter night in 1941, Nazi soldiers entered the great halls of Catherine Palace near Leningrad, Russia, and laid their hands on the treasure that was once referred to as the “eighth wonder of the world.”
In just a few days, they dismantled one of the most extraordinary works of Baroque art: the Amber Room, a dazzling space lined with panels made entirely of amber, decorated with gold leaf, inlaid mirrors and semi-precious stones.
As they packed the precious panels into crates and shipped them to Königsberg, no one could have imagined that the Amber Room would soon disappear into the fog of war, never to be seen again.
The origins of the Amber Room
The Amber Room was originally made in the early 18th century as a gift from King Frederick William I of Prussia to Tsar Peter the Great of Russia. Measuring 180 square feet and weighing over six tons, it was installed in the Catherine Palace near St. Petersburg.
The chamber was a masterpiece of baroque art, with panels of amber reinforced with gold leaf, decorated with mirrors, mosaics and semi-precious stones. Constructed of over six tons of amber, which is brittle, arduous to work and extremely uncommon, the chamber was an engineering marvel.
Room included decorative architectural elements such as gilding, carvings, amber panels, gold leaf, precious stones, statues of angels and children, and mirrors illuminating the room with candlelight.
For over 200 years, the Amber Room decorated the Catherine Palace, symbolizing the wealth of the Russian Empire. Its dazzling beauty even caught the attention of renowned personalities such as Empress Elizabeth and Catherine the Great, who had the room restored and expanded.
By the outbreak of World War II, the Amber Room had become an integral part of Russian cultural heritage, attracting visitors from all over the world. However, as the German army advanced towards Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) in 1941, the fate of this priceless treasure took a darker turn.
Nazi looting and disappearances
As part of their campaign in the east, the Nazis attempted to loot works of art and artifacts, with the Amber Room being a prime target. Despite efforts to hide it behind plain wallpaper, the Nazis – who meticulously tracked valuable artifacts across Europe – knew exactly where to find it.
When German troops occupied the city of Pushkin, where the Catherine Palace was located, dismantled peace within 36 hours and transported him to Königsberg Castle in East Prussia (present-day Kaliningrad, Russia). There, it was exhibited in a museum under the supervision of Alfred Rohde, a German art historian with a particular interest in amber.
After being transported to Königsberg, the capital of East Prussia, the Amber Room was briefly put on display before disappearing into the chaos of war.
Peace remained there until 1944, when Allied bombing began on the city. At this point the records become unclear. In the final months of the war, the Amber Room disappeared.
Some believe that it was destroyed during the bombing of the city, while others suggest that it was hidden by the retreating Germans. The lack of definitive evidence has led to a multitude of theories.
Search efforts and theories
Over the years, numerous expeditions have been organized to find the lost Amber Room, but none have been successful.
One of the simplest explanations is that the Amber Room was destroyed during the Allied bombing of Königsberg in August 1944.
Declassified documents from the Russian National Archives, authored by Alexander Brusov (head of the Soviet team responsible for finding lost works of art), stated that the Amber Room was most likely destroyed as a result of the destruction of the castle. His report also shows that in the castle basement, three of the four Florentine mosaics in the Amber Room were damaged and burned.
The Soviets nonetheless further conduct an extensive search for the Amber Room within the castle. It has been suggested that this was an early Cold War propaganda device to hide the fact that they were responsible for its destruction during artillery bombardments (blaming it on the Nazis) or that they were simply investigating its destruction by their own soldiers.
Another theory is that the Amber Room was hidden in a secret underground bunker or mine in Germany. This belief was reinforced by the discovery of several art caches used by the Nazis during the war, such as the Altaussee salt mine in Austria, where stolen art was recovered. However, extensive searches for such sites have not yet yielded any evidence of the existence of the Amber Room.
Some researchers believe that the Amber Room was loaded onto a ship sunk by the Allies at the end of the war. An often-quoted name is the Wilhelm Gustloff – the ship torpedoed by a Soviet submarine in January 1945, resulting in one of the deadliest maritime disasters in history. While divers examined the wreck, no trace of the Amber Room was found.
In recent years, there have been suggestions that Russian authorities may have already recovered parts of the Amber Room and are hiding it for political reasons. However, this theory is considered highly speculative and lacks reliable evidence.
In 2017, a team of Polish divers announced they had discovered a sunken German ship that may have contained the Amber Room, but subsequent investigations turned up no evidence. In 2020, another search was launched in the cave system in Germany based on newly discovered documents, but again no trace was found.
Reconstruction
In 1979, under the direction of Russian craftsmen, a project was started to recreate the Amber Room based on historical photos and descriptions.
After 24 years of painstaking work, the replica was completed and installed in Catherine Palace in 2003.
Reconstruction was a huge undertaking, costing approximately $11 million and taking 25 years. Its opening in 2003 took place on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg.
Before Russia invaded Ukraine, visitors from around the world could see a reconstruction of the original Amber Room at the Tsarskoye Selo State Museum Reserve.
Image Source: Pixabay.com
