# Are there photographs of the ORIGINAL Amber Room?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-photographs-of-the-original-amber-room/676070>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 11, 2013, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-photographs-of-the-original-amber-room/676070 "2013-12-11T14:47:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![gracefulfatsheba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a3d4f5/32.png) [@gracefulfatsheba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracefulfatsheba)\
**Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-photographs-of-the-original-amber-room/676070/1 "2013-12-11T14:47:06Z")

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I was reading about the Amber Room, a famous room in a Prussian palace with amber paneling and decorations.

Apparently, it ‘disappeared’ sometime during World War II. I can only find photographs of the current reproduction in St. Petersburg.

Can anyone tell me if photographs of the original room exist? If not, why?

> **[Amber Room](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amber_Room)**
>
> The Amber Room (Russian: Янтарная комната, tr. Yantarnaya Komnata, German: Bernsteinzimmer) was a chamber decorated in amber panels backed with gold leaf and mirrors, located in the Catherine Palace of Tsarskoye Selo near Saint Petersburg.
> Constructed in the 18th century in Prussia, the room was dismantled and eventually disappeared during World War II. Before its loss, it was considered an "Eighth Wonder of the World". A reconstruction was made, starting in 1979 and completed and installed in...

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**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\
**Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-photographs-of-the-original-amber-room/676070/2 "2013-12-11T14:52:22Z")

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There is at least one set, black and white, that the restoration team has been using for decades. You can find copies of the images in most books and articles; I assume they’re online somewhere as well.

One of the great lost treasures of humanity. Almost certainly burned, despite wishful thinking.

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**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\
**Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-photographs-of-the-original-amber-room/676070/3 "2013-12-11T16:25:26Z")

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The photographs of the original do seem to be rare online, although some of them can be found on [this blog](http://larrymuffin.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/the-amber-room.html).

Part of the issue will be that the pre-war photographs were only black and white. This caused problems for the restorers, who went to great lengths to work out which shades of gray corresponded to which shades of amber when using photographic film of that period.

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**Author:** ![gracefulfatsheba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a3d4f5/32.png) [@gracefulfatsheba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracefulfatsheba)\
**Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-photographs-of-the-original-amber-room/676070/4 "2013-12-11T17:48:39Z")

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Thanks, I’d love to find some hi-res scans of the original B&W photographs. I wonder if it would be possible for an expert to colorize the photos?