Baltic amber. Suvorova T.

The only amber museum in Russia was opened in 1979 in Kaliningrad. It is located in the fortress tower of the mid-19th century, which is located on the shores of the Upper Lake, and is named after Field Marshal Friedrich Karl Don. During the Napoleonic wars, he served at the headquarters of the Prussian General A. Flevok and took part in the battle of Preisish Elau in January 1807. Since 1812, F. Don was in the Russian service and took part in the liberation war against Napoleonic France as part of the Russian-German legion. Since 1842 he commanded the army corps in Koenigsberg. The exposition of the Amber Museum is located on three floors of the building and has an area of ​​about 1000 square meters. meters. By content, it is divided into natural science and cultural-historical parts. In the naturally -reflective section, different in weight, color scheme, and the degree of transparency samples of amber are presented. A significant part of the collection is made up of amber samples with the inclusions of insects, multi -leaflets, feathers of birds and plant residues, etc., which fell about 40 million years ago in a once viscous resin. The cultural and historical section contains jewelry and household items from amber from the Neolithic era to the present day. Of particular value are the works of masters of the XVII-XVIII centuries, transferred to the museum from the arms chamber of the Moscow Kremlin in 1979. The large exposition complex is dedicated to the Königsberg State Amber Manufactory and the Kaliningrad Amber Plant. A significant part of the exposition is occupied by the work of contemporary artists of Russia, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the USA, France, Japan: jewelry, small plastic, interior objects. The Amber Museum every year organizes more than 30 exhibitions and projects in Kaliningrad, in Russia and abroad, which are visited by about 200 thousand people. The museum collection has 15 thousand items, a specialized library is the best in the country. The center of communications and an extensive souvenir zone are organized on the territory of the museum.