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The Amber Room

Having intended to post on something entirely different today, I ran across the following kinescope from the future and knew that I wanted to post it (despite what is to be termed network morning news fluff at some point in time). And in posting it, I felt it only right to do a little more research for this readership and perhaps those of the Royal Society.

Now initially I tried to embed the moving picture here, but that was met with dubious success. Please find the ABC News clip at this location.

Summary
The Amber Room was created from 1701 to 1709 in Prussia and remained at Charlottenburg Palace until 1716 when it was given by Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm I to his then ally, Tsar Peter the Great of the Russian Empire. The Amber Room was looted during World War II by Nazi Germany and brought to Königsberg. Knowledge of its whereabouts was lost in the chaos at the end of the war. Its fate remains a mystery, and the search continues.

The original room in the Catherine Palace in Tsarskoe Syolo near St. Petersburg was a complete chamber decorated with amber patterns atop gold leaf and mirrors. Due to it's singular and spectacular beauty, it has been called the Eigth Wonder of the World.

The Reconstruction viewed above in the kinescope was started in 1979 and was based primarily on very old black and white photos of the original room. In 2003 the new room was dedicated by Russian President, Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor, Gerhard Schröder at the 300-year anniversary of the city of Saint Petersburg.

Creation of the Original
The Amber Room was made from 1701 onwards in order to be installed at the Charlottenburg Palace, home of Friedrich I, the first king of Prussia, at the urging of his second wife, Sophie Charlotte. The concept of the room and its design was by Andreas Schlüter. It was crafted by Gottfried Wolfram, master craftsman to the Danish court of King Frederick VI of Denmark, with help from the amber masters Ernst Schacht and Gottfried Turau from Danzig.

It did not, however, remain at Charlottenburg for long. Peter the Great admired it on a visit and in 1716, the king's son, presented it to him, and with that act cemented a Prussian-Russian alliance against Sweden.

In 1755 Tsarina Elizabeth of Russia had it transferred and installed, first in the Winter Palace, and then in the Catherine Palace. From Berlin, Frederick II The Great sent her more Baltic amber, in order to fill out the originals in the new design by the tsarina's Italian court architect.

The Amber Room represented a joint effort of German and Russian craftsmen. After several other 18th-century renovations, it covered more than 55 square metersand contained over six tons of amber. It took over ten years to construct.

History and Mystery

This opulent gesture of friendship between Russians and Germans would come to serve as a potent symbol of their divisions. When Hitler invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, his troops overran Tsarskoye Selo, dismantled the panels of the oversized jewel box, packed them up in 27 crates, and shipped them to Königsberg, Germany (today's Kaliningrad). In January 1945, after air raids and a savage ground assault on the city, the room's trail was lost.
After the war, the German official in charge of the amber shipment said the crates were in a castle that burned down in an air raid. A Soviet investigator found a charred fragment from the room.



It seems hard to believe that crates of several tons of amber could go missing, and many historians have tried to solve the mystery. As noted above,the most basic theory is that the crates were destroyed by the bombings of 1944. Others believe that the amber is still in Kaliningrad, while some say it was loaded onto a ship and can be found somewhere at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. In 1997, a group of German art detectives got a tip that someone was trying to hawk a piece of the Amber Room. They raided the office of the seller's lawyer and found one of the room's mosaic panels in Bremen, but the seller was the son of a deceased soldier and had no idea as to the panel's origin. One of the more extreme theories is that Stalin actually had a second Amber Room and the Germans stole a fake.

Another bizarre aspect of this story is the "Amber Room Curse." Many people connected to the room have met untimely ends. Take Rohde and his wife, for example, who died of typhus while the KGB was investigating the room. Or General Gusev, a Russian intelligence officer who died in a car crash after he talked to a journalist about the Amber Room. Or, most disturbing of all, Amber Room hunter and former German soldier Georg Stein, who in 1987 was murdered in a Bavarian forest.

Despite all the intrigue surrounding the disappearance of this spectacular work of art - this gift -it must be said that the loss of the original dealt a blow to the Russian people and to the world at large. We are fortunate that we now have a facsimile of which we may partake.

The history of the new Amber Room, at least, is known for sure. The reconstruction began in 1979 at Tsarskoye Selo and was completed 25 years—and $11 million—later with primary funding from a German petrol company. The dedication of the new room marked the 300-year anniversary of St. Petersburg in a unifying ceremony that echoed the peaceful sentiment behind the original. The room remains on display to the public at the Tsarskoye Selo State Museum Reserve outside of St. Petersburg.

References:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com

http://en.wikipedia.org

www.usnews.com

www.geo.uw.edu.pl/HOBBY/AMBER/amberroom.htm

www.amberroom.org/index-english.htm

ABC News

October Revolution

For Mme. Nicholas

For those who read the Proceedings of the Royal Society, you will know of Lady Kate Nicholas' interest in historical...er...future....events which take place in Russia. This is my gift to her today on the historical anniversary of the October Revolution. A brief review of the events leading to this extraordinarily significant event, and some information on the Revolution itself.

Nicholas II

As the year 1917 began, the atmosphere in Russia was ripe for revolution and change. Peasant villagers often migrated between agrarian and industrial work environments, and many relocated entirely, creating an expanding urban labor force. A middle class of white-collar employees, was on the rise. Even the nobles had to find new ways to subsist in this changing economy, and contemporaries spoke of new classes forming (proletarians and capitalists, for example).

The boundaries between the classes was shifting and blurring continuously. The culture was becoming much more commercialized and was creating new objects of desire. The growth of political consciousness, the impact of revolutionary ideas, and the weak and inefficient system of government, which had been debilitated further by its participation in World War I, seemed to do nothing to convince Nicholas II that any reform was necessary.

The populace felt Nicholas was out of touch with the needs and aspirations of the Russian people, the vast majority of whom were victims of the wretched socio-economic conditions which prevailed. There were few opportunities for the advancement of most in society.

Politically, many Russians, as well as non-Russian subjects of the crown, had reason to be dissatisfied with the existing autocratic system. Nicholas II was a deeply conservative ruler. His criteria of virtue—orderliness, family, and duty—were viewed as both personal ideals for a moral individual and rules for society and politics. Individuals and society alike were expected to show self-restraint, devotion to community and hierarchy, and a spirit of duty to country and tradition. Religious faith helped bind all this together: as a source of comfort and reassurance in the face of contradictory conditions, as a source of insight into the divine will, as a source of state power and authority.

The February Revolution, which ultimately ended with the abdication of Nicholas II in early March, broke out without definite leadership and formal plans, which may be seen as indicative of the fact that the Russian people had had quite enough of the existing system. After this event, leadership moved gradually to Alexander Kerensky of the Social Revolutionary Party.

Kerensky faced several great challenges: other political groups' challenges, heavy military losses on the front lines, defecting soldiers, discontent with the ongoing war, enormous shortages of food and supplies.

The Bolshevik Party led by Vladamir Lenin was growing in strength despite some earlier defeats and missteps. Lenin led his leftist revolutionaries in the October Revolution. The October Revolution ended the phase of the revolution instigated in February, replacing Russia's short-lived provisional parliamentary government with government by Soviets.

Soviet membership was initially freely elected, but many members of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party, anarchists, and other leftists opposed the Bolsheviks through the soviets. When it became clear that the Bolsheviks had little support outside of the industrialized areas of St. Petersburg and Moscow, they barred non-Bolsheviks from membership in the soviets. Other socialists revolted and called for "a third revolution." The most notable instances were the Tambov rebellion, 1919–1921, and the Kronstadt rebellion in March 1921. These movements, which made a wide range of demands and lacked effective coordination, were eventually defeated along with the White Army during the Civil War.

A little poetry from Finland and Russia

Some discoveries are too good to keep to oneself. Here is a selection of poetry found during and just after my wonderful holiday in Helsinki. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I do.



If you love, love madly
If you threaten, threaten seriously
If you hurt, hurt in anger only
If you hit, hit with all your force
If you argue, argue bravely
If you punish, you should have a reason


When you forgive, forgive with all your heart
When you celebrate, celebrate till dawn

Aleksei K. Tolstoi

Niin kuin aalto uittaa aallon
yli valtameren,
niin selviydymme mekin
toinen toisiamme tukien.

Just as one wave carries another wave
Across the ocean,
So we, too, survive
One supporting the other.

Risto Rasa

Sano heti jos minä häiritsen,
hän sanoi astuessaan ovesta sisään,
niin minä lähden saman tien pois.

Sinä et ainoastaan häiritse,
minä vastasin,
sinä järkytät koko minun olemustani.
Tervetuloa.

Tell me immediately if I'm disturbing you,
He said, coming in the door,
And I will leave right away.

You not only disturb,
I answered,
You shake my whole being.
Welcome.

Eeva Kilpi

Nukkumaan käydessä ajattelen:
Huomenna minä lämmitän saunan,
pidän itseäni hyvänä,
kävelytän, uitan, pesen,
kutsun itseni iltateelle,
puhuttelen ystävällisesti ja ihaillen, kehun:
Sinä pieni urhea nainen,
minä luotan sinuun.

Going to sleep, I think:
Tomorrow I will heat up the sauna,
Pamper myself,
Walk, swim, wash,
Invite myself to evening tea,
Speak to myself in a friendly and admiring way, praising:
You brave little woman,
I believe in you.

Eeva Kilpi

Sinun jäljiltäsi katson itseäni;
silmieni ympärillä onnelliset poimut.

After you, I look at myself;
Around my eyes, happy wrinkles.

Eeva Kilpi

A wonderful adventure

The trip home on the steamer took much longer than my travel to Finland via airships, but the rest and relaxation to be found aboard more than made up for the additional travel time.

To say that I enjoyed Helsinki and Finland would be an understatement. I found this Grand Duchy of Russia to be wonderfully full of culture and art; of music and dancing; of romance and literature. Her people were most gracious and kind.

Below are just some of the many things that I was able to do and see while traveling there.


The gentles with whom I came in contact during my holiday celebrated a proper tea each day. Here is one example of a Russian Tea/Coffee service from the 1850s. Simply wonderful!


This lovely table and chairs was found in the drawing room of one of the officers on Suomenlinna. I am told this piece was also brought from Russian at mid-century.


The Helsinki Cathedral and some wonderful examples of Russian/French architecture


Uspenski Cathedral. I attended vespers services with my Orthodox hosts at this magnificent church. I shall not soon forget the solemnity with which worship was conducted....a truly moving experience.

I was fortunate enough to be invited to the opera in Helsinki and the ball which followed. The hall was so intricately designed and beautifully decorated that is nearly took my breath away. The opera presentation was of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's The Snow Maiden. As a guest of the Suomenlinna Commander and his family an escort for the evening was chosen for me. The gentleman proved to be a most delightful soul and was excellent company. His name was Alexai Kirillovich Vronsky, a very dark and dashing military officer.


Breath-taking view from the boxes at the Opera House.


Waiting for Vronsky to join us.


Enjoying the view at intermission with Vronsky


The ballroom


The last dance of the evening - and my trip to Finland.

Wonderful!

Oh - and by the way.....shopping was no issue as the monetary exchange was nearby.




And now it is good to be home.

I shall be remarking on the Courts and titles issues soon. Unfortunately one of my court was left off the lists. Fortunately my court continues to grow.

Mitä kuuluu, Venäjä?

How are you, Russia?

Here we are in the summer during the late 1880s visiting Finland. No trip would be complete, I am told by my friend, The Empress of all Russia, Maria Feodorovna, without a visit to Suomenlinna Fortress.

Suomenlinna, which was initially called Sveaborg by the Swedes, has occupied a significant role in Finland and in the politics of the Baltic region. Constructing the coastal fortification in the Gulf of Finland in the mid-1700s was a last attempt by Sweden to reclaim the land it had lost to Russia at the turn of the century. The people of the time generally referred to the fortress as the Gibraltar of the North. The fortress was built from granite and was considered to be impenetrable. Nevertheless Sweden surrendered her to the Russians in a siege in 1808, after which Finland became a Grand Duchy of Russia.

Despite the fact that the garrison and fortress were greatly damaged during a bombardment in 1855 (Crimean War), the Russians have rebuilt and reinforced the area, and it remains a central focus of social activity here in Helsinki and Finland.

The garrison commander has been gracious enough to permit me to tour the area and to stay a few nights on the island. I am in great anticipation of the evening's ball, although I doubt it will compare to those in Caledon.

Here are some images that were captured over the last couple of days:

Making this Scotswoman feel right at home, the thistles were in bloom at Suomenlinna. (photo courtesy of my human on Suomenlinna 2007)

Touring the fortress

Looking out one of the commander's windows to the sea

What the soldiers see as they shoot their cannon. (photo courtesy of my human on Suomenlinna 2007)

Reviewing one of the many naval vessels at the Suomenlinna docks.

On board

One of the many earth-reinforced areas of the fortress.
(photo courtesy of my human on Suomenlinna 2007)

A watercolor of the view from my room - the ladies of the garrison and several from Helsinki observe the building of the new officer's barracks. (photo courtesy of my human on Suomenlinna 2007)

Found at the local designer's shop
(photo courtesy of my human on Suomenlinna 2007)

Here is where my letter to you must end. I need to lay on the divan for a bit of an afternoon rest, have a bath drawn, and slide into my silk gown for the ball tonight.

I wonder what wonderful things tomorrow will hold.