The mysteriously disappeared Amber Palace, known as the eighth wonder of the world!
The Amber Palace (Russian: Янтарнаякомната; English: AmberPalace) is known as the "Eighth Wonder of the World". Listening to the name, you must think that it is a palace completely decorated with amber, but in fact, the Amber Palace is not a high-level palace, but a 55-square-meter room.
The history of the Amber Palace dates back to the beginning of the 18th century: in 1701, friedrich Wilhelmvon Hohenzollern, the first king of the Kingdom of Prussia, intended to be his second queen, Sophie? Sophie Charlotte (1668-1705) created a luxurious residence in the midst of today's Charlottenburg Palace in Berlin.
Illustration: Portrait of Frederick I, picture from the Internet
Photo note: Portrait of Queen Sophie Charlotte, picture from the Internet
The famous designer Andreas Schlüter was commissioned to design it, and he referenced the style of the famous Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles, while at the same time inlaid with a large amount of gold and precious stones in the interior of the building, which is really a luxury! Of all the decorative treasures, the largest is amber, which is 6 tons in size. Just polishing and inlaying these ambers has taken many skilled craftsmen years!
Photo note: Today's Charlottenburg Palace, picture from the internet
Illustration: Luxurious decoration in the Charlottenburg Palace, picture from the internet
Illustration: In the Amber Palace, there is not only a large amount of amber, but also precious metals such as gold, and the picture comes from the network
It is precisely because the main decorative material in the palace is extremely expensive amber that the name "Amber Palace" has been born.
Today's Germany does not produce amber, so where does the amber in the Amber Palace come from? It turned out that the amber came from Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea coast, as an enclave outside of today's Russia, which was once Königsberg in the Prussian Empire. Amber is a specialty of the Baltic Sea coast, including Königsberg, these crystal clear fossil gemstones were formed 40 million years ago in the Eocene period, after a long geological period has become a treasure in the eyes of human beings, many amber also contains insects, plants and other inclusions.
Image note: Baltic amber, image from the web
It is precisely because the Amber Palace is so valuable that it is called the "Eighth Wonder of the World"!
In 1716, the Russian Tsar Peter I (Пётралексеевич, 1672-1725) visited Prussia, by which time the King of Prussia had been replaced by Friedrich WilhelmI (1688-1740). In order to be able to form an alliance with Russia against Sweden, William I decided to give the Amber Palace to Peter I as a gift, and the Prussian-Russian alliance was formed.
Photo note: Portrait of Frederick William I, picture from the Internet
Picture note: Portrait of Peter I, picture from the Internet
Peter I naturally regarded such a valuable state gift as a treasure, and he placed it in the Hermitage in present-day St. Petersburg, and later in the Catherine Palace on the outskirts of St. Petersburg. After that, despite the First World War, the October Revolution, and the Russian Civil War, the Amber Palace was unharmed and open to the public.
Photo note: Catherine Palace, picture from the internet
Illustration: Decoration in catherine's palace, picture from the internet
In 1941, the Soviet-German War broke out, and the overwhelming German army soon captured catherine Palace, and the Amber Palace became the spoils of the German army. The Germans loaded the Amber Palace back to Königsberg, the origin of the amber, and displayed it to the public. Fast forward to 1945, and the Soviets in the counter-offensive were approaching Königsberg. Hitler personally ordered the Amber Palace to be transferred, but Königsberg was soon bombed by the Royal Air Force, and the whereabouts of the Amber Palace have been unknown ever since.
Note: Königsberg during World War II, picture from the Internet
On April 9, 1945, after fierce fighting, the Soviet army finally occupied Königsberg, and they immediately began to search for the whereabouts of the Amber Palace, but found nothing, and the whereabouts of the Amber Palace became a mystery for eternity.
There are many theories about the whereabouts of the Amber Palace, including: it was sunk by the Nazis into Lake Toplitz in Austria, destroyed by the Germans, and so on. If the Amber Palace were still there, its value is estimated at more than £500 million.
In 2002, the Russian government rebuilt the Amber Palace using the same materials as the original Amber Palace and opened it to the public, and the cost of reconstruction alone exceeded 5 billion yuan!
Let's take a look at the luxury of the Amber Palace today!
Image/Network (Intrusion and Deletion)
Exploration of Literature and Biology (Jiang Hong)
Typography/Paleontological exploration