Messages

1

Palaces in St. Petersburg / Re: Yusupov Palace on the Moika

« on: August 27, 2019, 03:35:20 AM »

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a description of part of Feliks Feliksovich junior's private apartments facing the Moika:

"The enfilade was opened by the Library, the walls of which were lined with Karelian birch panels and “covered with emerald painting”. It was followed by the Dining Room of "Amethyst", then the Cabinet of the Young Prince, with the chariots of Apollo and Aurora, soaring in the picturesque vaults, painted by N. Tyrsa.

Nearby, there was a large living room, furnished with a Parisian white set of “swan-neck shape”, topped with a shade with the finest openwork paintings of S. Chekhonin. The last hall in the suite - the Ballroom (Dance), was decorated with a colonnade of light-coffee artificial marble, snow-white wall bas-reliefs by the sculptor B. Yakovlev and paintings of refined coloristic shades - N. Tyrsa. According to the architect A. Beloborodov, a gallery of the Winter Garden adjoined the semicircular part of the hall."




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2

The Yussupovs / Re: The Yusupov Palace on Moika, St.Petersbourg

« on: August 27, 2019, 02:47:36 AM »

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someone describng Feliks Feliksovich junior's Moika enfilade rooms:

"The enfilade was opened by the Library, the walls of which were lined with Karelian birch panels and “covered with emerald painting”. It was followed by the Dining Room of "Amethyst", then the Cabinet of the Young Prince, with the chariots of Apollo and Aurora, soaring in the picturesque vaults, painted by N. Tyrsa.

Nearby, there was a large living room, furnished with a Parisian white set of “swan-neck shape”, topped with a shade with the finest openwork paintings of S. Chekhonin. The last hall in the suite - the Ballroom (Dance), was decorated with a colonnade of light-coffee artificial marble, snow-white wall bas-reliefs by the sculptor B. Yakovlev and paintings of refined coloristic shades - N. Tyrsa. According to the architect A. Beloborodov, a gallery of the Winter Garden adjoined the semicircular part of the hall."




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3

Alexandra Feodorovna / what would you say...?

« on: May 16, 2019, 10:01:52 PM »

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this is a "what if" question...

let's say you have 5 - 10 minutes sometime in 1913 to speak privately with the empress.   what would you say to her,
to try and persuade her onto a different path and, hopefully save her children, herself, her husband and the others?


PLEASE NOTE:   
i am NOT looking for an argument.   if one starts, no matter who it's between, i will simply remove this topic.
also
i am NOT saying she is the reason the family was murdered.  however, one must recognise that she was a contributing factor, especially given the influence she held with her husband.   

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Palaces in St. Petersburg / Re: Yusupov Palace on the Moika

« on: January 23, 2019, 09:33:44 PM »

i don't know why the photobucket link to the bigger image isn't working, and this is as big as it wil let me post.
oh, well....

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apparently, clicking on the image will enlarge it.
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Palaces in St. Petersburg / Re: Yusupov Palace on the Moika

« on: January 22, 2019, 04:06:41 PM »

i don't know why the photobucket link to the bigger image isn't working, and this is as big as it wil let me post.
oh, well....

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Palaces in St. Petersburg / Re: Yusupov Palace on the Moika

« on: January 21, 2019, 11:35:32 PM »

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i finally finished my plan of the ground floor.   i know there are a couple of areas that are incorrect, but for lack of any information, i had to guess.

click on the image to see the larger version.
(please let me know if the link doesn't work.)

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Mediatized Noble Families / Thurn und Taxis mystery...

« on: May 22, 2017, 05:09:43 AM »

i was going to put this in the Thurn und Taxis thread, but was advised to start a new topic. 
so i am.

my question is this:  does anyone know what happened to Heinrich von Fels? 

he was the son (born in 1867) of prince Paul von Thurn und Taxis (supposed former lover of Ludwig II, who later gave him the title "von Fels" after Paul had been disowned by his family) and the actress, Elise Kreuzer.  Paul's family had forced him to marry her morganatically in 1868, after which, they disowned him, stripped him of all titles & cast him out -- they did, however, give him a yearly allowance.   in any case, Paul contracted tuberculosis and traveled, with his wife & 12 year old son, to Cannes for his health.  his wife ran off with a man she met at their hotel, leaving behind her sick husband & their son, Heinrich von Fels.    Paul died very soon after her departure.   

i haven't been able to find out anything about what happened to poor Heinrich after his father died.   

he, apparently, was not retrieved by his mother, as i can find no mention of him in anything regarding his mother Elise after her departure from Cannes.   

i figured i'd ask here, and see if anyone has any idea what happened to the poor kid who, abandoned by his mother, was left to watch his father die.   the TuT family don't seem to have taken him in.  i believe his mother's family were all dead already (i could be mistaken about this, however).   

anyway --
thanks for any info.

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Imperial Transportation / His Majesty's Train

« on: May 11, 2017, 07:11:04 PM »

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unfortunately, these are not in the correct order, but i'm sure y'all can figure that out.
click to enlarge.

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Other Palaces / Re: Imperial houses in Poland: Spala, Skierniewice, Bialowieza

« on: April 30, 2017, 08:31:03 AM »

Bialowieza

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Palaces in St. Petersburg / Yusupov Palace on the Moika

« on: March 29, 2017, 05:41:18 PM »

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some of Feliks & Irina's rooms on the ground floor of the palace.

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Other Palaces / Re: Gatchina Palace

« on: November 09, 2015, 09:42:34 PM »

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Here is the Arsenal Room on the ground floor. It's named "Hall " in the floorplan that Brian had posted.

wow....that was a looooong time ago, wasn't it?  :-)

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12

Their World and Culture / the Jewel Cases...

« on: July 24, 2015, 01:30:31 AM »

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a couple of questions to the AP Forum at large:

RE: the famous "display" cases the grand duchesses & ladies of the court had in their bedrooms & dressing rooms to hold & display their famous jewelry.

1.) we've all read of their existence & some references to their appearance, but has anyone of us ever SEEN one?   i have a photo of Ksenia Aleksandrovna's bedroom in Ai-Todor, which shows, i believe, a corner of one.   sadly, that photo has been floating around somewhere in my photobucket albums for several years now, unlabeled & i have not been able to find it so far.  it's in there somewhere.   at any rate, does anyone else have any images which show these famous yet vague cases in situ?   or any images at all?

2.)  where are they?  what happened to them?   why aren't they in evidence...anywhere?!   i would imagine many, or even most, were destroyed, but i can't imagine that ALL were destroyed!   and even if only a few survived, why haven't we seen them?

&
3.)  what did they actually look like?    allowing for minor variations for the individual, did they all follow the same basic build -- like the court dresses?    or were they as wildly varied & individualistic as those who owned them?


SIDE-QUESTION:   recall hearing, many years back, that the Yusupov Palace had rebuilt/restored/whatever the walk-in vault that Feliks Feliksovitch had built for Irina Aleksandrovna, in which there were display cases for her jewels.   does anyone know if this restoration actually took place?  better still, does anyone have any images of it?
y'all would absolutely make my day if there are photos!  :-)

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13

Mediatized Noble Families / Re: Sayn Wittgenstein Berleburgs

« on: August 11, 2014, 07:15:22 AM »

can anyone tell me about the death of prinz August-Richard zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg ? (b.Munich 22 Dec 1913 - d.Berlin 22 Dec 1939)

apparently, he was murdered by the Gestapo on his 26th birthday.   but i can't find ANYTHING about him online.     why was he killed BY HIS OWN COUNTRYMEN so early (the BEGINNING!) in the war?

why was someone so young THAT important?   why is there NO info about him?    granted, he was young, so i'm guessing there wasn't that much to tell.... so why kill him?


i'd appreciate any information and/or suggestions on where to look.

thanks!

-- brian
(brnbg aka liljones1968)

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The Yussupovs / Re: Princess Zenaida Yusupova - discussion and pictures II

« on: April 14, 2014, 10:35:32 PM »

Princess Zenaida

what a wonderful image!!!   she's in her bedroom, obviously, but i wonder which house...?!

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15

Palaces in St. Petersburg / Re: Private rooms of the Winter Palace

« on: January 08, 2014, 06:27:09 AM »

here's a better view....

This is very helpful. Thank you. I especially appreciate the labeled floor plan, which has already helped answer a few other questions. Thanks again.

incidentally, i should mention that, as you can see on my labeled plan, many rooms have several names -- as in:  "something/ something/ something" --  that's not because i wasn't sure, it was because rooms had different uses at different points in time.   i imagine you probably figured that out, but just in case, i wanted to clarify  :-)

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