Over the centuries, many famous objects and people have been lost to history. People die and objects of every description disappear. But, how often can we say that a whole room has been misplaced, stolen or lost? By this, I do not mean that it was destroyed during a battle or that the building it was in was destroyed. I mean that the room vanished.
It was known as the Amber Room for obvious reasons. Amber is a valuable mineral and the room was covered with panels of amber pearls and gold leaf. The picture shows it was quite a sight.
Originally, the room was a gift from King Wilhelm I of Prussia. In 1716, he presented it to Peter the Great of Russia. They were allies and no doubt, Wilhelm gave this present to ensure their friendship continued. The room was installed in the Catherine Palace in St Petersburg. It was said to have covered an area of 55 square metres.
For over 200 years, it remained there undisturbed. Then in 1941, during the Second World War, the conflict reached the palace. The German army were, as they say, at the gates. Before the palace fell, the Russians attempted to dismantle the room so it could be preserved. Unfortunately, they found it to be too fragile and had to abandon the work.
In due time, the Germans entered the room and it was decided that they would dismantle it and take it to a new location. Perhaps it was because they had more time that they were successful in taking the room apart. Eventually, it was contained within 27 crates. These were then transported to Konigsberg Castle in Prussia.
This is the point where we lose the trail of what happened to the Amber Room. There is a record which says that in 1945, crates were seen leaving the castle. Unfortunately, we do not know what they contained. If the room had been left in the castle, then it would be no more, for the city of Konigsberg was destroyed by British bombers and the Russians did the same to the castle.
The Amber Room has not been seen again. It is by no means certain that the room was removed, but to where we have no real idea. However, this has not stopped treasure hunters from continuing to search for it. Now and again, some amber is discovered, but there is no evidence that any of it belonged to the Amber Room. The search continues.
John Pullen 