Earlier this week, interest in the priceless 18th century Imperial Russian artefact, plundered by the Nazis during the invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II, was renewed after Polish treasure hunters said that they had made a breakthrough in the search for the lost treasure.
The Amber Room is not in Poland, and is almost certainly situated inside a secret underground bunker in a city in western Germany about 65 km from the Dutch border, Karl-Heinz Kleine, amateur historian and founder of the amber-room.org website says.
“Koch wanted to use the loot. He did not yet know that the war was lost, and that he would never again see his prize. He saw it as his personal property. So why would he send them to Poland or some other place? I am certain that the Amber Room is located in Wuppertal,” Kleine insisted.
The Amber Room, a royal chamber decorated with gold leafs, mirrors, and panels of over six tonnes of real amber, was created by German craftsmen during the 18th century and presented as a gift to Peter the Great from Prussia’s King Frederick William I in 1716, and eventually installed at the Catherine Palace south of St. Petersburg. During World War II, as the Nazis advanced, palace curators tried to hide the artefact. However, German troops found the room, dismantled it and took it to Konigsberg. In early 1945, as the Red Army advanced on East Prussia, the room mysteriously vanished, just as Konigsberg administrator Erich Koch fled the city.