Emily Chan
After the Nazis swept into Russia during World War Two, they took over the Catherine Palace and looted thousands of valuable treasures, including the Amber Room.
The room had been dubbed “the Eighth Wonder of the World and was one of Russia’s most prized artifacts.
It was made of several tons of amber, hence its name. The space also radiated with warmth and glowed like honey.
The Amber Room was a gift to Peter the Great in 1716 to celebrate the peace between Russia and Prussia.
The collection of shimmering amber panels was shipped to Germany and put on display. However, in the final months of the war, the amber panels vanished.
In 2003, a replica was constructed, but the original Amber Room has remained missing ever since. Its fate is one of the greatest mysteries of World War Two.
The work of art dated back to 1701 when Andreas Schlüter, a German baroque sculptor, began designing it.
At the time, the use of amber for interior decoration had been completely unheard of, but Schlüter had a vision, and he was determined to bring it to fruition.
The amber was dipped in a mix of honey and linseed before they were worked into panels of wood. The wood was covered in gold and silver leaf and decorated with precious jewels.
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