Amber developed more than 50 million years ago from the resin of giant needle forests, which were flooded later on by the Baltic Sea. The resin of the Amber Pine flowed for thousands of generations into the ground forming a layer together with other dead plants, which has been conserved for millions of years. Storms recover these layers and bring the Amber to shore. Ocean currents and conditions of the ground formed large deposits of Amber, like for example in the Samland, where Amber is not only being collected at the beach, but also dug out of the ground. Like with coal, large layers of sand are removed to get access to the buried Amber. The largest occurrences are at the Baltic Sea, but also in the Dominican Republic, in Central America, Africa, Greece and even inside some countries. The layers below coal offer the best chances of finding Amber.
Construction of the Amber Room began in 1701. It was originally installed at Charlottenburg Palace, home of Friedrich I, the first King of Prussia. Truly an international collaboration, the room was designed by German baroque sculptor Andreas Schlüter and constructed by the Danish amber craftsman Gottfried Wolfram. Peter the Great admired the room on a visit, and in 1716 the King of Prussia—then Frederick William I—presented it to the Peter as a gift, cementing a Prussian-Russian alliance against Sweden.
The Amber Room was shipped to Russia in 18 large boxes and installed in the Winter House in St. Petersburg as a part of a European art collection. In 1755, Czarina Elizabeth ordered the room to be moved to the Catherine Palace in Pushkin, named Tsarskoye Selo, or "Czar's Village." Italian designer Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli redesigned the room to fit into its new, larger space using additional amber shipped from Berlin.
"When the work was finished, in 1770, the room was dazzling," wrote art historians Konstantin Akinsha and Grigorii Kozlov. "It was illuminated by 565 candles whose light was reflected in the warm gold surface of the amber and sparkled in the mirrors, gilt, and mosaics."
The Amber Room represented a joint effort of German and Russian craftsmen. After several other 18th-century renovations, it covered more than 55 square meters and contained over six tonnes of amber. It took over ten years to construct.
If you happen to visit Tsarskoye Selo (Tsar's Village), which is 16 miles south of the center of St. Petersburg, Russia, perhaps you would be lucky enough to see the rebuilt Amber Room, which is located in Catherine Palace. The original Amber Room is the subject of a great vanishing act. Given as a gift to Peter the Great by the son of the King of Prussia, the Amber Room consisted of thousands of pieces of amber assembled into intricate mosaics, ornaments, figures and patterns.
After other 18th-century renovations, the room covered about 180 square feet and glowed with six tons of amber and other semi-precious stones. The amber panels were backed with gold leaf, and historians estimate that, at the time, the room was worth $142 million in today's dollars. Over time, the Amber Room was used as a private meditation chamber for Czarina Elizabeth, a gathering room for Catherine the Great and a trophy space for amber connoisseur Alexander II.
In 1941, the Nazis disassembled the room and took it to the German city of Königsberg, now known as Kaliningrad, Russia. In 1945, the Soviets captured Königsberg and packed the Amber Room into 27 crates. The original room hasn't been seen since. The hunt continues for the whereabouts of the Amber Room, or proof of its destruction, but nothing has come to fruition. There have been a few pieces of the room discovered, but they do not explain the mystery of its disappearance. There are several theories, some claiming the room was burned when the Nazi's set fire to the palace, but proof is hard to come by.
Opening in 2003, the Amber Room is alive again, having been reconstructed by photographs and memory. Expert craftsmen spent more than 20 years painstakingly carving and rebuilding the beautiful room that had been dubbed The Eighth Wonder of the World. The Russian government relied on donations to help bankroll the enormous cost of the room's reconstruction, including a massive donation by the German company Rhurgas.
There have been several claims that the Amber Room has been found, some as recent as 2008, but nothing has yet been presented to the German or Russian governments as proof.
Replies
i think it has more healing properties not sure, my Mom is into this (herb stuff) when drinking taste awful but sure helps without side effect ...
not much of inner work …. ;) as I was just a kid, but sense of freedom (pacific ocean, amazing forest) and little responsibility and no ground rules except be at home by 9 pm …. i want that back .... ;)
Great, dear Ara, thank you)))
I know the Amber room well. The scientists here are sure it is alive, it is obviously in someone's private collection, but not in Russia.
here is their link, some more pics there.
It is really outstanding work, even the modern parts of it (some details are original, they were found)
http://www.tzar.ru/museums/palaces/c_atherine/amber_room
Love, dear)))
Thanks Dido ... ;) that was interesting read, it’s been a while … brushing up on the history … ;) and Russian diversity ....
thank you marianinia, it's feels that you've got some good times in your childhood, me too i had an awesome times even thou it was at the military base in the middle of nowhere .... ;) but still good memory ..... also pine tree sap could be used for wound healing as it’s an excellent natural antibiotic.
can you imagine to meditate in one of this rooms ... ;) i certainly wouldn't mind to have very tiny room like that ..... especially in our society right now .... it would be permanent place of residence .... ;)
Love and light to you too Andy.
one correction ~..............amber used to be so prolific in Baltic Sea but unfortunate practices of mass marketing mixed with waste of Soviet Block's industrial chemicals poured into the sea had almost destroyed this precious gem. As a child , I remember going to the Baltic Sea and pick it everywhere laying around beaches. Last time I visited Poland , '93 , I had paid a visit to my favorite spots around Baltic Sea and , to my shock, I couldn't find a single piece anywhere............It was gone.......
Anyhow, I am not sure if my memory serves me right but Amber Room had disapeared after germans looted it and was never found by anyone which have to , for sure mean, that Ruskies didn't found it in Kalingrad.............
there are other location for amber origins not only Baltic Sea, unfortunately you're right esseya, every thing under mass marketing and distributing have 'fatal' side effect, the amber room was restored not found (however there are some rumors, no proof) .... amber has very healing properties .... it's also stimulates the mind and i've heard have some mystical elements as - 'bringing good luck' ... it also transmutes negative energy to positive and is an excellent grounding gem and protection from radiation ... Amber was also called Electra, Bernstein or Northern Gold due to its electrical properties and golden color .....