INSEARCHOFTHEAMBERROOM
FrederickWilliamI,theKingofPrussia,couldneverhaveimaginedthathisgreatestgifttotheRussianpeoplewouldhavesuchanamazinghistory.ThisgiftwastheAmberRoom,whichwasgiventhisnamebecauseseveraltonsofamberwereusedtomakeit.Theamberwhichwasselectedhadabeautifulyellow-browncolourlikehoney.Thedesignoftheroomwasinthefancystylepopularinthosedays.Itwasalsoatreasuredecoratedwithgoldandjewels,whichtookthecountry'sbestartistsabouttenyearstomake.
Infact,theroomwasnotmadetobeagift.ItwasdesignedforthepalaceofFrederickI.However,thenextKingofPrussia,FrederickWilliamI,towhomtheamberroombelonged,decidednottokeepit.In1716hegaveittoPetertheGreat.Inreturn,theCzarsenthimatroopofhisbestsoldiers.SotheAmberRoombecamepartoftheCzar'swinterpalaceinStPetersburg.Aboutfourmetreslong,theroomservedasasmallreceptionhallforimportantvisitors.
Later,CatherineIIhadtheAmberRoommovedtoapalaceoutsideStPetersburgwhereshespenthersummers.Shetoldherartiststoaddmoredetailstoit.In1770theroomwascompletedthewayshewanted.Almostsixhundredcandleslittheroom,anditsmirrorsandpicturesshonelikegold.Sadly,althoughtheAmberRoomwasconsideredoneofthewondersoftheworld,itisnowmissing.
InSeptember1941,theNaziarmywasnearStPetersburg.Thiswasatimewhenthetwocountrieswereatwar.BeforetheNaziscouldgettothesummerpalace,theRussianswereabletoremovesomefurnitureandsmallartobjectsfromtheAmberRoom.However,someoftheNazissecretlystoletheroomitself.Inlessthantwodays100,000pieceswereputinsidetwenty-sevenwoodenboxes.ThereisnodoubtthattheboxeswerethenputonatrainforKonigsberg,whichwasatthattimeaGermancityontheBalticSea.Afterthat,whathappenedtotheAmberRoomremainsamystery.
Recently,theRussiansandGermanshavebuiltanewAmberRoomatthesummerpalace.BystudyingoldphotosoftheformerAmberRoom,theyhavemadethenewonelookliketheoldone.In2003itwasreadyforthepeopleofStPetersburgwhentheycelebratedthe300thbirthdayoftheircity.