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The Amber Room was a chamber lined entirely with carved amber, gold leaf and mirrors, often called the eighth wonder of the world. German troops dismantled it and took it away in 1941; it vanished at the end of the Second World War and has never been found.

Catherine Palace, 1941

ArtHistory

The story behind the card

It was made in Prussia from 1701, and in 1716 King Frederick William I gave it to Peter the Great of Russia. Later installed in the Catherine Palace near St Petersburg and enlarged, it covered more than 55 square metres with some six tonnes of amber that glowed gold by candlelight. When Germany invaded the Soviet Union, soldiers took it apart in about 36 hours and sent it in crates to Königsberg, where it was put on show in the castle. The trail ends there in 1944 and 1945: theories say it burned in the bombing, sank on a ship or lies hidden in a mine. Treasure hunters still look for it. A reconstruction, made by Russian craftsmen over 24 years using the original methods, opened in 2003.

Türkçe oku
Kehribar Oda, duvarları baştan sona oyma kehribar, altın varak ve aynalarla kaplı, “dünyanın sekizinci harikası” diye anılan bir salondu. Alman askerleri 1941'de odayı söküp götürdü; İkinci Dünya Savaşı'nın sonunda ortadan kayboldu ve bir daha bulunamadı.
Katerina Sarayı, 1941

Oda 1701'den itibaren Prusya'da yapıldı; 1716'da Prusya Kralı I. Friedrich Wilhelm onu Rus Çarı Büyük Petro'ya hediye etti. Sonradan St. Petersburg yakınındaki Katerina Sarayı'na yerleştirilip genişletildi. Duvarları 55 metrekareyi aşıyordu ve mum ışığında altın gibi parlayan yaklaşık altı ton kehribarla kaplıydı. Almanya Sovyetler Birliği'ni işgal edince askerler odayı 36 saat kadar sürede söktü ve sandıklar içinde Königsberg'e gönderdi; oda orada, şatoda sergilendi. İz 1944–1945'te burada kayboluyor. Kimine göre bombardımanda yandı, kimine göre bir gemiyle battı ya da bir madende saklı duruyor. Define avcıları hâlâ arıyor. Rus ustaların özgün yöntemlerle 24 yılda yaptığı bir kopyası 2003'te ziyarete açıldı.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Amber Room
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