Unit 1 Cu ltu ral relics In search of the amber room Frederick William I, the king of Prussia, could never have imagined that this greatest gift to the Russia 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. It was designed for the palace of Frederick I. However, the next king of Prussia, Frederick William I, to whom the amber 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 meters 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 Nazi cold get to the summer palace, the Russians were able to remove some furniture and small art objects from the Amber Room. Howeve...
