Hello, Mystery Fans! Welcome to the Mystery Month on the blog, to see the full list of topics click here. We have tackled several topics already, Amelia Earhart and Jack the Ripper, and today I am looking for lost treasure. Grab a shovel and settle in with me as we look through history for The Amber Room, known as the 8th Wonder of the World.
First of all, have you ever heard of it? Caleb and I talked about the Amber Room on an episode of our podcast, Nonsensicality, you can listen right here. It was a topic brand new to Caleb. If it is brand new to you too, here are the details.
The Amber Room Background
It was constructed in 1701 for Friedrich I, the 1st King of Prussia. A German sculptor and a Danish amber craftsman designed and build this amazing room.
In 1716 Peter the Great admired the room and it was gifted to him as a celebration of peace between Prussia and Russia. Imagine that, you are at a friend’s house for dinner, admire the living room and they give you the entire room. That’s so crazy!
The Amber Room was shipped to Russia in 18 crates and reassembled in its new home. It was moved again in 1755 to the Catherine Palace. An Italian designer was brought into retrofit the room to its new place. After all the renovations, the room covered about 180 square feet, used 6 tons of amber and other precious gems, and had a conservative value of 142 million dollars in today’s money.
The room lived happily in the Catherine Palace used as a meeting room, a meditation room, and a trophy room. By the way, if you are wondering how big this room is…it is about 180 square feet or the average size of a master bedroom. Of course, that is not the end of the story.
Flash Forward to WWII & Operation Barbarossa
We arrive on June 22, 1941, and Operation Barbarossa, the German code name for the invasion of Soviet Russia. Operation Barbarossa launched 3 million German soldiers into Russia. Other than territory, the Germans also wanted art and treasures from the conquered land. It led to widespread looting, and on the radar was a priceless treasure, the Amber Room.
There was great effort made to protect the room, but the amber was found too brittle to be removed and attempts were made to cover up the panels. Nazis were not to be hindered in their mission. They believed the room was made by Germans and for the German people, it needed to go back home.
The room was packed up in 36 hours and into 27 crates and taken to Konigsburg Castle, now present-day Kaliningrad. There it was reassembled and on display. But…it was not to remain.
In 1943, seeing the war was not going the Nazi’s way, it was advised that the Amber Room be dismantled again, packed up and moved to safety. In August 1944, Allied troops bombed the city and the castle. In January 1945, the Russians took the city and in April took the castle and torched all that remained.
That was the last history saw of The Amber Room and where the mystery begins.
There are many theories that abound.
- Was it destroyed in the bombing?
- Was it removed in time and hidden somewhere else by the Germans?
- Was it loaded on a ship that sunk in the Baltic?
Here are the theories I found that hold the most promise.
A Tree Covered Mysterious Hatch
In an article on vintagenews.com, the site reports that a hatch has been found in 2019 by a team from the Mamerki Bunker Museum by geo-radar, near the town of Wegorzeno in the northeast region of Poland. Interestingly enough, very near the area of Hitler’s Wolfs Lair, his eastern front headquarters for the war.
A tree has overgrown the hatch opening and is preventing further digging, but based on the age of the tree it is clear the hatch has not been opened for several decades. The team is waiting for official permission to remove the tree and explore the area. Is the hatch hiding a bunker and the Amber Room?
The Forgotten Tunnels and Underground Bunker
Treasure hunter, Sergey Trifonov, spent 30 years hunting the Amber Room and believes it never left Kaliningrad. He believes he has found the location of the Amber Room in never before known bunkers under the city with tunnels that lead to the last known location of the room, Konigsburg Castle. Trifonov was allowed to drill a hatch into the bunker and found a flooded space. The water was pumped out and, in the concrete room, they found a hastily built but very thick brick wall. Again, Trifonov received permission to bore a hole through the wall to see what was beyond it. His camera’s found yet another flooded room but did see large shapes he believes are the metal crates holding the Amber Room. Is that the final resting place for this treasure?
Destroyed by Soviet Troops
This theory is my favorite so far. The Skeptoid podcast, skeptoid.com, raised a compelling theory. This theory states that the Russians in 1945 after taking over the castle knowingly burned the Amber Room. Amber burns like firewood. Pieces of copper hinges and mosaic tiles were recovered from the castle rubble, items that would have survived the fire, as proof of the room’s destruction.
In the war against Germany, Russia lost 25 million people, including soldiers and civilians, in the fighting. At the end of the war, they were seeking retribution against Germany and looted art and anything they can find. But why burn the Amber Room? Why would they burn one of their nation’s treasures? Skeptoid brought up a few reasons.
- Germany stole The Amber Room, Russia looted 1.6 million works of art from Germany at the end of the war. When the German government asks about getting their art back…Russia asks for the Amber Room.
- In 1941 Anatoly Kuchumov was tasked to try to hide the Amber Room from the Germans. He was unable to be successful. Since then Kuchumov has been working as part of an expedition to find the Amber Room. He even writes a 1989 book, The Amber Room, and in it states the search continues. But does it? The Russians did not dissolve the expedition until 1984, but they started the reconstruction of the new Amber Room in 1979. Did they know the room would never be found?
- Today you can visit the fully restored Amber Room back at its home at the Catherine Palace and Russia earns revenue off of tourism that comes into the country.
In Conclusion…
Is it still out there? Is it hidden away from the world waiting for someone to find it? I don’t know and I am curious to find the results of the tree-covered hatch. There is one point that makes me wonder…if the Amber Room is hidden away in crates, what kind of condition will it be in? In 1941, they could not remove the panels to hide it from the Nazis because it was brittle. Will it have survived 70 years in an underground bunker or hidden away? Will it still be the 8th wonder of the world if it is ever found? I was drawn to the topic because I love the idea of buried treasure and secrets of the past being found in modern times. I find the most logic in the theory that the Russians destroyed it but I hope it is still out there waiting to be discovered. Imagine being on the team that finds it…
Thanks for journeying through history with me and exploring the Amber Room’s history. What do you think? Is it still out there to be found? Let me know in the comments. If you have a mystery that you want to me learn about, let me know what too. Or if you just want to tell me your favorite food or just say hello…I am excited to hear from you.
Till next time,
Kimberly