Right Wing of Alexander Palace

[Joanna]

From a fragment of the diary of Surgeon Gedroits in 1914 when she first visited the Alexander Palace to lecture nursing studies to Empress Alexandra and the Grand Duchesses, she writes court etiquette being suspended in that she was allowed to use her own carriage and horse. She entered the right wing of the palace '... an in extensive lobby with a fireplace which walls have horns of the elks killed on hunting...The silence of a palace, such calm amazes, that my new  boots seemed to me almost a thunder. And that they have taken so to creak...'

I have a photocopy of the right wing corridor and it looks almost like an extension of the Stag room of Alexander III.

http://kfinkelshteyn.narod.ru/Tzarskoye_Selo/Gedroitz2c.htm

Joanna

[BobG]

Joanna,
Any chance you can post the photocopy?
I would love to see the right wing corridor.  Many of us are fascinated by that side of the palace of which we know so little.
Thanks.
Bob

[Arleen_Ristau]

Joanna dear, You always post the best things.....this is one I really wish I could read Russian on....Gedroits diary sounds wonderful.  
I also wish you would post the picture because nothing opened for me.  What are these diary fragments from?  Who found them, etc?
This really makes me curious.
..Arleen

[pastpalacelife]

Hi,
I did post this in AP restorations, but I don't know if that was the best place to put it.  This news clip is about a plate being returned from a German that belonged in the Tsars office, guess it was stolen during war.  
But towards the end of the segment, the film crew shows the now empty right wing corrider since being vacated by the navy. Thought it was exciting.  Tracy

http://www.vesti.ru/videos?vid=259842

[PAVLOV]

Thank you. It is exciting but also so frustrating not being able to understand Russian, and they show so little of the rooms. I wonder what the big empty room is at the end ? If this is what the rooms look like after the Navy has left, its very depressing. Its going to take a lot of hard work to restore them to anything. Probably just exibition space, looks like everything architectural and historical is gone.    I wonder if there is anything left at all to work with ?

[PAVLOV]

P.S. I think its a ghastly, ugly plate, but very decent of the German person to return it though. It would have been so much nicer if other people in Germany returned the many items stolen by their fathers and grandfathers from the Alexander Palace. A whole porcelain dinner service made for Alexander I, anyone ? Or perhaps that little 18th century chair, or silver serving dish with the Russian coat of arms ?

Perhaps this will set an example to the many people in Germany and other European countries who have bits of stolen Russian porcelain and other items sitting in their display cabinets, to return them to the Alexander Palace, where they belong. The same goes for the other palaces.

You never know, once the building has been restored, many people may return stolen items to the Palace. Perhaps the Curators of the museum should incentivise people to return items to the palace. A free trip down the Volga for a dinner service, a free entry tickets to the Catherine Palace for a porcelain vase etc.   LoL !!
One can only hope that the decendants of the barbarians who plundered the palaces have evolved into more civilised human beings since 1945, and do the right thing..   

[EmmyLee]

Pavlov, I agree. One can only hope that such treasures will one day be returned.

[rosieposie]

Yes Pavlov it would be wonderful if these items can be returned.  But also remember some items might have been destroyed such as silver or gold objects for personal use.

Of course some items could be in England and go on the ARS and the people that have them would sell them back to the Russians for the valued price.  Some people can be greedy.

[Constantinople]

I think that it is important for Russia to send the message that its imperial history is now important and then a lot more important artifacts will find their way back.  if the perception is that the government and its officials are corrupt then there is much less incentive for those people who have Imperial Russian artifacts to return them.  There is a lot of these still outside of Russia and it would be nice to see them returned and for the Russian government to take a new pride in this period of its past.

[Alan]

In answer to Pavlov's reply and the question about the large room at the end of the film, I think that room could have been the bedroom of (Dowager) Empress Marie where she gave birth to Nicholas II. That side of the Palace is under renovation right now. Alan

[Joanna]

Here's another mystery...
This photo is captioned in Nikolai II, by Bokhanov, as "Empress Aleksandra Fyodorovna in her study in the Alexander Palace:

But it sure doesn't look like the AP to me. The wall paper reminds me of Peterhof, but I'm really not certain at all. Anyone care to hazard a guess?

Mystery resolved - The photo is of Room #51 Drawing Room of the English Suite. There are various clues of identification - the wallpaper is identical, the door frame corresponds exactly in style, and the upper mirror in the cabinet reflects the chandelier which is same as in the drawing room.

Joanna

[Cathy]

Thanks Joanna - I wonder what year this picture is from?

And in the book - it is a pity that information can be so erroneous!!

[Sarushka]

Thank you Joanna!

[pastpalacelife]

Joanna, First thanks for solving the location.  I probably should already know this, but how do you know the details of the room (like wallpaper, etc) to figure out the location?  Sorry if there is a whole section on this?  Also, for some reason, I've always thought the right wing was basically a closed or rarely used part of the palace, kind of like Manderly in "Rebecca" if you know that movie (one of my fav's) I didn't imagine the IF going over there for any reason, guess I'm wrong.  Thanks, Tracy

[Sarushka]

I believe Joanna has a copy of volume two of this book by V.I Yakovlev, which details the AP room by room.