In Search of the Amber Room

Frederick William I, the King of Prussia, could never have imagined that his greatest gift to the Russian people would have such an amazing history.This gift was the Amber Room, which was given this name because several tons of amber were used to make it. The amber which was selected had a beautiful yellow-brown colour like honey. The design of the room was in the fancy style popular in those days. It was also a treasure decorated with gold and jewels, which took the country's best artists about ten years to make.

In fact, the room was not made to be a gift. However, the next King of Prussia, Frederick William I, to whom the amber room belonged, decided not to keep it. In 1716 he gave it to Peter the Great. In return, the Czar sent him a troop of his best soldiers.So the Amber Room became part of the Czar's winter palace in St Petersburg. About four metres long, the room served as a small reception hall for important visitors.

Later, Catherine Ⅱ had the Amber Room moved to a palace outside St Petersburg where she spent her summers. She told her artists to add more details to it. In 1770 the room was completed the way she wanted. Almost six hundred candles lit the room, and its mirrors and pictures shone like gold. Sadly, although the Amber Room was considered one of the wonders of the world, it is now missing.

In September 1941, the Nazi army was near St Petersburg.This was

a time when the two countries were at war. Before the Nazis could get to the summer palace, the Russians were able to remove some furniture and small art objects from the Amber Room. However, some of the Nazis secretly stole the room itself. In less than two days 100,000 pieces were put inside twenty-seven wooden boxes. There is no doubt that the boxes were then put on a train for Konigsberg, which was at that time a German city on the Baltic Sea. After that, what happened to the Amber Room remains a mystery.

Recently, the Russians and Germans have built a new Amber Room at the summer palace. By studying old photos of the former Amber Room, they have made the new one look like the old one. In 2003, it was ready for the people of St Petersburg when they celebrated the 300th birthday of their city.

寻找琥珀屋

普鲁士国王腓特烈·威廉一世，绝不可能想到他送给俄罗斯人民的厚礼会有这样一段令人惊讶的历史。这件礼物就是琥珀屋，它之所以有这个名字是因为造这间房子用了近几吨琥珀。被选择的琥珀色彩艳丽呈黄褐色，像蜜一样。屋子的设计采用了那时期流行的极富艺术表现力的建筑风格。琥珀屋还是一件镶嵌着黄金和珠宝的珍品，全国最优秀的艺术家用了10年的时间才完成它。

事实上，琥珀屋并不是作为礼物而建造的。它是作为腓烈特一世

的宫殿而建造的。然而，下一位普鲁士国王，腓烈特·威廉一世，这个琥珀屋的主人，却决定不要它了。1716年，他把它送给了彼得大帝。作为回馈，沙皇则送给他一队自己最好的士兵。所以，琥珀屋就成了沙皇在圣彼得堡冬宫的一部分。长约4米，琥珀屋被用作接待重要来宾的小型会客室。

后来，叶卡捷琳娜二世派人把琥珀屋搬到了圣彼得堡郊外避暑的宫殿中。她让艺术家们给它增添了更多的细节装饰。1770年，这间琥珀屋按她要求的方式完工了。将近600支蜡烛照亮了这个房间里面的镜子和图画，就像金子一样闪闪发光。不幸的是，虽然琥珀屋被认为是世界奇迹之一，可是现在它却下落不明。

1941年9月，纳粹德国的军队逼近了圣彼得堡。这是两国交战的时期。在纳粹分子能够到达夏宫之前，俄国人只来得及搬走琥珀屋里的一些家具和小型艺术饰品。然而，琥珀屋本体却被一些纳粹分子秘密地运走了。在不到两天的时间里，琥珀屋被拆成10万块装进了27个木箱里。毫无疑问，这些箱子后来被装上火车运往哥尼斯堡，当时它是波罗的海的海边的一个德国城市。从那以后，琥珀屋的最终归宿就成了一个谜。

最近，俄国人和德国人已经在夏宫建立起了一个新的琥珀屋。通过研究前琥珀屋的照片，他们使得新的琥珀屋的样子与原来的非常相像。在2003年，在圣彼得堡人民庆祝他们的城市建立300周年的时候，它已经完工了。