Date of publication: 12/11/2010
The WW1 Museum at Tsarskoye Selo (the former residence of the Imperial family) in St. Petersburg was built between 1913-17 in the Martial Chamber palace complex. At the behest of Tsar Nicholas II a collection of military paintings, artefacts and trophies of past Russian wars was established. This was added to year on year until the collection was formally grouped into the ‘Great 1914-1918 War Museum’.
Within the collections were hundreds of pieces of art, documents, photography as well as WW1 books, maps and even a shot-down Zeppelin airship. However, when the Revolution occurred in 1919 and the museum’s exhibits were either destroyed or relocated.
Almost 90 years later, the Martial Chamber containing the Museum was transferred to the Tsarskoye Selo State Museum Preserve who will restore and re-open it in time for the WW1 Centenary in 2014.
To find out more about the project and Tsarskoye Selo, click here to read an article on the project and palace in The St Petersburg Times.
Images courtesy of St Petersburg Times website.