Frederick William I, the King of Prussia, could never have imagined that his greatest gift to the Russian people would have such an amazing history. This gift was the Amber Room, which was given this name because several tons of amber were used to make it. The amber which was selected had a beautiful yellow-brown colour like honey. The design of the room was in the fancy style popular in those days. It was also a treasure decorated with gold and jewels, which took the country' s best artists about ten years to make.
In fact, the room was not made to be a gift. It was designed for the palace of Frederick I. However, the next King of Prussia, Frederick William I, to whom the amber room belonged, decided not to keep it. In 1716 he gave it to Peter the Great. In return, the Czar sent him a troop of his best soldiers. So the Amber Room became part of the Czar' s winter palace in St Petersburg. About four metres long, the room served as a small reception hall for important visitors.
Later, Catherine Ⅱhad the Amber Room moved to a palace outside St Petersburg where she spent her summers. She told her artists to add more details to it. In 1770 the room was completed the way she wanted. Almost six hundred candles lit the room, and its mirrors and pictures shone like gold. Sadly, although the Amber Room was considered one of the wonders of the world,it is now missing.
In September 1941 , the Nazi army was near St Petersburg. This was a time when the two countries were at war. Before the Nazis could get to the summer palace, the Russians were able to remove some furniture and small art objects from the Amber Room. However, some of the Nazis secretly stole the room itself. In less than two days 100,000 pieces were put inside twenty-seven wooden boxes. There is no doubt that the boxes were then put on a train for Konigsberg, which was at that time a German city on the Baltic Sea. After that,what happened to the Amber Room remain a mystery.
Recently, the Russians and Germans have built a new Amber Room at the summer palace. By studying old photos of the former Amber Room, they have made the new one look like the old one. In 2003 it was ready for the people of St Petersburg when they celebrated the 300th birthday of their city.
翻譯
尋找琥珀屋普魯士國王威廉壹世決不可能想到他送給俄羅斯人民的厚禮會有這樣壹段令人驚訝的歷史。這件禮物就是琥珀屋，它之所以有這個名字，是因為造這間房子用了好幾噸的琥珀。選出來的琥珀色彩艷麗，呈現蜂蜜壹樣的黃褐色。琥珀屋的設計采用了當時流行的別致的建築式樣。它也是用金銀珠寶裝飾起來的珍品。壹批國家最優秀的藝術用了大約十年的時間才把它完成。
事實上，這個琥珀屋並不是作為禮物來建造的。它是為腓特烈壹世的宮殿設計（制作）的。然而，下壹位普魯士國王，腓特烈·威廉壹世，這個琥珀屋的主人卻決定不要它了。在1716年，他把琥珀屋送給了彼得大帝。作為回贈，沙皇則送給他壹隊自己最好的士兵。這樣，琥珀屋就成了沙皇在聖彼得堡冬宮的壹部分。這間琥珀屋長約四米，被用作待重要賓的小型會客室。
後來，葉卡捷琳娜二世派人把琥珀屋搬到聖彼得堡郊外她避暑的宮殿中。她叫她的工匠在原來設計的基礎上增添了更多精細的裝飾。1770年，這間琥珀屋按照她的要求完成了。將近600支蠟燭照亮了這個房間，裏面的鏡子和圖畫就像金子壹樣閃閃發光，可悲的是，盡管琥珀屋被認為是是世界上的壹大奇跡之壹，可是現在它卻消失了。
1941年9月，納粹德國的軍隊逼近聖彼得堡。這是在兩國交戰的時期。在納粹分子到達夏宮之前，俄羅斯人只能把琥珀屋裏的壹些家具和小件藝術飾品搬走。可是琥珀屋本身卻被壹些納粹分子偷偷地運走了。在不到兩天的時間裏，10萬個部件裝進了27個木箱。毫無疑問，這些想在後來被裝上火車運往哥尼斯堡，當時德國在波羅的海邊的壹個城市。從那以後，琥珀屋的去處便成了壹個迷。
近來，俄羅斯人和德國人已經在夏宮建起了壹個新的琥珀屋，通過研究琥珀屋原來的照片，他們建造的新琥珀屋樣子和舊的看起來非常像。2003年春，聖彼得堡人民就用它來慶祝該市建成300周年。