[MSN] Part of the Amber Room on Sale in Berlin

[Museum Security Network Mailinglist]

Part of the Amber Room on Sale in Berlin

A part of the famous Amber Room has been exhibited at the Ars Nobilis
antiques fair in Berlin. The new fragment, however, does not lead to the
whereabouts of the Amber Room. 
Munich-based Kunstkammer Georg Laue gallery is exhibiting a 15.3 cm-high
alabaster panel with the head of an ancient warrior, made from 1701-1713 for
the famous Amber Room, the ITAR-TASS news agency reported Friday.

The Amber Room was created from 1701 to 1709 in Prussia and remained there
until 1716 when it was given by Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm I to Russian
Emperor Peter the Great. The panels were assembled in the Catherine Palace
in Tsarskoe Selo, outside St. Petersburg. The Amber Room was looted during
WWII by Nazi Germany and taken to Koenigsberg. Information of its
whereabouts was lost in the post-war chaos. The search of it remains is
still one of the greatest treasure hunts of all time.

The only part of the Amber Room which has been found so far is a Florentine
mosaic. It is now exhibited in the Catherine Palace along with the restored
version.

Tatyana Zhirkova, head of the press service of the Tsarskoe Selo museum, was
surprised but did not rule out that there could be another unknown fragment
of the room. Experts of Georg Laue say that the panel has nothing to do with
the lost treasures. The item on display was made in the 18th as a separate
element. Antiquaries believe that the panel was taken out of the Amber Room
before the transportation to Russia in 1717 or was produced as a single
item. 

The price for the item has not been disclosed but experts at Georg Laue say
it is a six-digit sum.

www.kommersant.com