In original size

Styrian recreates the legendary Amber Room

Mariya Tauschitz with the first plate for the Amber Room replica

(Bild: Jürgen Radspieler)

The magnificent Amber Room is considered the "eighth wonder of the world" and has been lost since 1945. An artist from Styria is now rebuilding the legendary room true to the original - and needs nerves of steel to do so.

The news set the pulses of many history fans racing: a wreck was found at the bottom of the North Sea, it was the last German ship to leave Königsberg (now Kaliningrad) in 1945 before the Russians invaded. Was the legendary Amber Room on board?

Speculation was rife in the fall of 2020. A year later, after several dives, it was clear: nothing again. The Amber Room remains missing. But its myth is still very much alive almost 80 years later. Stolen by the Nazis from the Tsar's palace in St. Petersburg in 1941, traces of the unique magnificent paneling were lost at the end of the war. 

The Amber Room

• The Amber Room is a room with gilded wall paneling made of amber. It was a gift from the Prussian King Frederick William I to Tsar Peter the Great and stood in St. Catherine's Palace in St. Petersburg for almost two decades.
• During the Second World War, the Nazis took the room to Königsberg. Traces of it were lost there in 1945. Numerous myths surround the whereabouts of the treasures, which were supposedly packed in 28 boxes.
• Since 2003, an elaborate reconstruction of the Amber Room in St. Catherine's Palace has been attracting tourists.

The subject continues to fascinate, especially in Poland. Mariya Tauschitz now owes her "biggest and most challenging commission to date" to this fact: The artist from Waldstein (Deutschfeistritz) in Styria is currently recreating the Amber Room, which measures a good 100 square meters - true to the original.

"The workload is huge"
It is a job that will probably take several years. The wealth of detail on the wall panels demands everything from Tauschitz, who describes herself as a "perfectionist". "The nervous strain is huge."

Tauschitz follows the original exactly

(Bild: Jürgen Radspieler)

The Bulgarian-born artist, who has lived in Styria for 20 years, came across the State Room back in 2010, when she created part of the Amber Room as a stage set for the Mörbisch operetta "The Tsarevich" and made headlines for the first time. Tauschitz's artistry also attracted attention in Poland, where parts of the installation were later moved. Including to Mamerki, close to the border with Russia, where a Nazi bunker complex is now a tourist attraction.

Amber Room for a private museum
And it is precisely in this place that a Pole now wants to build a private museum, which will also house a replica of the Amber Room. The walls will be delivered from Styria, but will naturally not be made of amber and gold like the lost original: Tauschitz works with epoxy resin in her manageable workshop ("we have to improvise all the time"). She will also be responsible for reproducing the ceiling painting and will be able to use the workshop of the Graz Opera House for this. Only the magnificent inlaid floor will be made directly in Poland.

Cameras will also be looking over Tauschitz's shoulders during the fine modeling work: a Polish TV team has already announced its attendance. And who knows: if another promising wreck is found at the bottom of the North Sea in the near future, the Amber Room could once again make electrifying headlines.