War Damage of Tsarskoe Selo and Peterhof

[Alexandre Mikhaelovitch]

Tsarskoie Selo palace in 1944 and 1945 , photographed by russian soldiers :

Here the main façade with two russian soldiers in winter uniform , winter 1944 :



The main façade , spring 1945 :



The 1st anteroom , you can recognize to the left one of the two consoles (not restored ; today there are here 2 ceramic stoves as in the 18th century) , richly carved and gilded to display chinese and japanese porcelains :



The Zubov wing , probably in spring or summer 1945 , completely destroyed by fire ( to the left some windows have always protective planks of wood against bombing...

[Alexandre Mikhaelovitch]

Russian soldiers military offensive in Tsarskoie Selo Catherine palace on 2 January 1944 :



18 January 1944 , russian soldiers with mine detector in front of main façade of Tsarskoie Selo Catherine palace :



Tsarskoie Selo Catherine palace's church and high school , winter 1944 ; with a red army officer:



Catherine palace main façade :

Spring 1944:



Summer 1945 , first activities to consolidation and stabilization works:



The chinese bridge , Catherine palace's park , winter 1944 :

[Alexandre Mikhaelovitch]

Tsarskoie Selo Catherine palace interiors :

1st anteroom in 1941 , photographed by a spanish soldier . It is still intact here , with one of the 2 consoles :



The same room in 1944...



The main staircase of Tsarskoie Selo Catherine palace , 1944:





The green dining room of empress Catherine 2nd , Tsarskoie Selo Catherine palace , 1944:



The Arabesque room , 1944: ( recently restored ):



A maids-of-honor room ( with a ceramic stove on the left ) , Tsarskoie Selo Catherine palace :



A very rare photography !! The painting ceiling of the Catherine palace church , photographed in 1941 by a spanih or german soldier :

[Alexandre Mikhaelovitch]

Another photos of Tsarskoie Selo during the WW2 :

Wermacht officers and soldiers seated in front of the Catherine palace , 1941-1944



The main wing of the Catherine palace in 1944 , filmed by plane by Red Army :



The Zubov wing filmed by plane too in 1944:

[Geniebeanie]

I read somewhere they closed the Alexander Palace for repairs, so it will be ready for the hundred anniversary  of the family's murder.

[lilianna]

1. The first photo is not the Catherine Palace.
2. Images from the film called "Tsarskoye Selo in 1944".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_PAGUZgFCs

[Sanochka]

These pictures are horrifying.  (I wonder if colorization would make them even more so.)  That anybody could destroy such beauty and splendor for any reason is incomprehensible.  I can only hope that all involved in such destruction are dead and gone.  Meantime, kudos to Russia for its patience and determination in restoring these nearly lost palaces.

BTW, why did my post count stop at 202? 

[lilianna]

Thank you understand our pain.

[Greg_D]

I have never seen any photographs of Alexandra's apartments in the AP (Maple room, Palisander room, Mauve and Bedroom) after the end of the war and before they were ripped out by the soviets in the late 1940s.....do they exist I understand they were still relatively intact and not destroyed like the Catherine Palace..... It would be fantastic to see them

[lilianna]

There are no pictures. Is the description of rooms and a description about the palace, and a balcony. Kuchumov found furniture Lilac cabinet Empress and the whole life sitting at the table of the boudoir. He did not even painted. We can see it right now. I have a few photos of the ceremonial hall and 1 larger cabinet of the Emperor.

[Joanna]

Photos that I have not seen before of the Catherine Palace c1941-44:

Garden side:
http://c7.alamy.com/comp/C45CH1/destroyed-former-czarist-palace-in-pushkin-1941-C45CH1.jpg

Courtyard side:
http://c7.alamy.com/comp/C45CH0/destroyed-former-czarist-palace-in-pushkin-1941-C45CH0.jpg

Spanish Blue Division:
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/3f/a1/19/3fa119cf93e4ecc4ccfb1ef7eaac0df2.jpg

http://www.militaria-archive.com/albumsIII/Reserve-Polizei-Battalion-102-a/content/bing/images/large/Res_Pol_Btn_102_149.jpg

http://otpusk-zdorovo.ru/spb/ekaterininskij-dvorets-v-tsarskom-sele-gorod-pushkin-vojna2.jpg

http://gatchinapalace.ru/upload/medialibrary/1fd/1fd275ab49f484b8683d2427e3106ff4.jpg

http://gatchinapalace.ru/upload/medialibrary/3b5/3b5701d72e085756b7954f73313ad57c.jpg

Joanna

[Alexandre Mikhaelovitch]

Thank you Joanna !

I had never seen these pictures , it's so sad ...

The spanish blue division have been very harmful towards Tsarskoie SElo and Peterhof .
I am sure that numerous treasures of these palaces are again in Spain ...(like books of imperials librairies , clocks , etc..)

[NicolasG]

Thank you Joanna !

I had never seen these pictures , it's so sad ...

The spanish blue division have been very harmful towards Tsarskoie SElo and Peterhof .
I am sure that numerous treasures of these palaces are again in Spain ...(like books of imperials librairies , clocks , etc..)

Yes, in fact a real Fabergé egg is a standard feature of any Spanish home (I have one on my bedside table).

Really, the Spanish Blue Division took over the Tsarkoe Selo sector of the front at the beginning of september 1942, that is, a whole year after Hitler attacked his former ally Stalin. Anything valuable that could be moved had already been evacuated by the Russians or plundered by the Germans.

[Alexandre Mikhaelovitch]

3 unpublished pictures of Peterhof Great Palace at the end of the WWII (from Peterhof Museum facebook) : click on the pictures for best resolution


©State Peterhof Museum


©State Peterhof Museum


©State Peterhof Museum

[Alexandre Mikhaelovitch]

Some pictures of Tsarskoie Selo Catherine Palace between 1941 and 1944 :

Main facade :




(photo already shown by Joanna but in a better resolution)

The great hall (with a german officer?)-the stucco moulded cornice has not been reconstituted after the war .


The Arabesque hall (the late cornice dating from the regn of Nicholas II has not been reconstituted , the curators preffered the Catherine II pediod) :


The main stairs (already seen but better resolution)