SoylentNews

20/10/07/2029249 story

The Wreck of the WWII Steamship Karlsruhe May Hold Lost Russian Treasure

posted by martyb on Thursday October 08 2020, @03:26AM   
from the casualties-of-war dept.

Freeman writes:

The wreck of the WWII steamship Karlsruhe may hold lost Russian treasure:

A World War II shipwreck recently located off the coast of Poland may hold the dismantled pieces of the Amber Room[*], a Russian treasure looted by the Nazis and lost since 1945.

The wreck of the German steamship Karlsruhe lies 88 meters (290 feet) below the surface of the Baltic Sea and a few dozen kilometers north of the resort town of Ustka, Poland. It's in excellent shape after 75 years on the bottom, according to the team of 10 divers from Baltictech who located the wreck in June and announced the find in early October.

[...] "We don't want to get too excited, but if the Germans were to take [the Amber Room] across the Baltic Sea, then Karlsruhe steamer was their last chance," Baltictech wrote in a recent Facebook post announcing the find.

[*] Wikipedia entries for amber and Amber Room.

---

Original Submission

• Already restoredAlready restored (Score: 3, Informative) by legont on Thursday October 08 2020, @03:33AM (2 children)

  by legont (4179) on Thursday October 08 2020, @03:33AM (#1061972)

  The room was recently restored using archived drawings. Would be great to see one next to the other one day though.

  --
  "Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.

  • Re:Already restoredRe:Already restored (Score: 3, Insightful) by hendrikboom on Thursday October 08 2020, @02:11PM (1 child)

    by hendrikboom (1125) on Thursday October 08 2020, @02:11PM (#1062083) Homepage Journal

    I think the technical term would be "duplicated", not "restored".

    Parent

    • Re:Already restored(Score: 2) by legont on Thursday October 08 2020, @09:30PM

      by legont (4179) on Thursday October 08 2020, @09:30PM (#1062237)

      That's a philosophical question, I think. For example, Russians "restored" the main Estonian church In Tallinn after it was bombed flat. Estonians think about it as the original.
      Back to philosophy, if there is a single particle left from the original, it'd be probably "restored". Now let's switch from mater to ideas. If there was a single thought left, it would be restored as well, I believe.
      In this particular case there were many documents left, similar to the church I mentioned.

      --
      "Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.

      Parent

• It seems a bit far-fetchedIt seems a bit far-fetched (Score: 5, Informative) by stormwyrm on Thursday October 08 2020, @05:27AM (1 child)

  by stormwyrm (717) on Thursday October 08 2020, @05:27AM (#1062000) Journal

  The last known records of what had happened to the pieces of the Amber Room was that the Nazis had kept it in storage ready for evacuation at Königsberg Castle in 1945. However, before they could do so, the Red Army had taken the city and without knowing what was stored there, set fire to the castle, burning the pieces of the Amber Room stored there. The Soviets later found the charred remnants in the ruins, including three of the four Florentine mosaics and copper hinges, which were the only things that survived the fire. The Soviets, however, kept this information under wraps to hold as a club against the Germans, who whenever they demanded the return of artwork that the Soviets had likewise looted from Germany, would raise the issue of the "missing" Amber Room. Maybe they might find a few bits of the Amber Room down in the wreckage of that ship, but it seems likely that much of it was burned in the capture of Königsberg.

  --
  Numquam ponenda est pluralitas sine necessitate.

  • Re:It seems a bit far-fetched(Score: 2) by driverless on Thursday October 08 2020, @09:33AM

    by driverless (4770) on Thursday October 08 2020, @09:33AM (#1062027)

    Yep, with high probability it was burned by the Soviets in Konigsberg Castle. However it's a great drawcard for funding, "recover a bunch of rusting military gear and cargo off an old steamer" has nothing compared to "recover the Amber Room!!!!", particularly if they sell the exclusive distribution rights to the footage of the salvage operation.

    Parent

• Interesting history(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Thursday October 08 2020, @01:27PM

  by PiMuNu (3823) on Thursday October 08 2020, @01:27PM (#1062063)

  Commissioned by Frederick I, of whom history has been rather critical - he is sandwiched by Frederick-William the Great, Frederick William I (who had his F II's best buddy executed to toughen him up) and Frederick II the Great, all of whom were pretty serious people. F II waged war with most of Europe - and won.

• That kind of delicate artwork(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 08 2020, @04:39PM

  by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 08 2020, @04:39PM (#1062137)

  Does not survive saltwater

• Also worth investigating...(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 08 2020, @06:24PM

  by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 08 2020, @06:24PM (#1062178)

  Are the corroding barrels of ginormous PREHISTORIC mortar launchers sticking out of the ground. War games were fun back in those days.

• OK(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Friday October 09 2020, @06:49PM

  by hendrikboom (1125) on Friday October 09 2020, @06:49PM (#1062657) Homepage Journal

  I concede. They did use a brick from the original, didn't they.