The Amber Museum in Kaliningrad

Given that 90% of all amber in the world comes from Kaliningrad it is only fitting there is a museum dedicated to the gem. The museum is located with in Dohna Tower, part of the cities mid 1800’s fortifications that I wrote about yesterday. The museum works from showing that amber is fossilized tree resin to how it is found in its raw form and then moves into explaining the manufacturing of it and how it is used to make jewelry and works of art from vases, clocks, ships, etc. To me the most impressive thing amber is used for is as portraits since I am amazed they can use stones and still capture the details of a human face. Unbelievable!!!!

The most famous amber art work is the Amber Room built in 1701 in Berlin. This room decorated from floor to ceiling in amber contained 590 sq feet and 13,000 pounds of amber. It was gifted to Peter the Great of Russia by the Prussian King Frederick William I in 1716. It remained in Russian possession and was considered a national treasure until it was stole back by the the German Army during World War 2 when they displayed it in Königsberg (as Kaliningrad was known then) all the way up to the capture of the city by the Soviet Army. It was at this time the Amber Room disappeared and has yet to be found, but there are many theories as to what happened.

If you would like to take some amber home as a souvenir you will find it being sold all over Kaliningrad from brick and mortar stores to kiosks around the city. Many of the items for sale are jewelry, but you can find sculptures, frames, magnets, etc. Just do not think the keychains for $3 with a perfect example of a bug in amber is real :). I was drawn more to the raw amber and ended up buying a bag of eight pieces from a guy at a street flea market for $15 that fit my needs perfectly.