Alexandra's Balcony

[Angie_H]

The balcony that Alexandra had added on to the palace, it looks like it was of wrought iron? Is that correct? What color was it? Did it match the exterior of the palace? Does anyone have any modern pictures of it?
Angie

[Robert_Hall]

Modern ? I may very well be wrong, but it is my impression that the balcony is now gone.
Best,
Robert

[mek]

I was just there in June, and unfortunately, the balcony no longer exists.  I imagine it was destroyed during the war, but I could be wrong about that.  The balcony has always fasinated me also - so many family photos were taken there.

[Angie_H]

It's gone? I didn't know that?!

[Jane]

I believe AF's corner balcony was removed during the renovations to the Alexander Palace after World War II.

[Robert_Hall]

I wonder, was that when the Winter Palace balconies was removed as well ?

[Jane]

I'm not sure about the Winter Palace wrought-iron balconies.  I'll check my sources and see what I can find.  

[Arleen_Ristau]

Does anyone know what happened to the balcony's themselves? Did someone save them in a storage room or melt them down?
Arleen

[Jane]

Interesting question, Arleen.  I'd venture a guess--and this is only a guess--that most likely they were largely destroyed in the process of being dismantled, and ended up on the proverbial scrap heap.

[Arleen_Ristau]

Jane I was curious because where I am from in the south many a gorgeous headboard has been made from the old iron gates and fences themselves.  Not a scrap of old wrought iron is wasted.  But you are most probably right.     ..Arleen

[Jane]

Well, it is always possible that there might be some apartment in St. Petersburg with a piece of furniture incorporating AF's balcony.  Wouldn't THAT be a hoot?

[BobAtchison]

The balcony was added by Meltser using railings to be found elsewhere in the Petersburg area.  You can see these at the Winter Palace and you used to see them at the Belvedere Palace at Peterhof.  I assume they came from the same ironworks.  All of the balconies around the palace vanished after the war.  This is not true of the balustrade around the park terrace, which seems to still have elements from Quarenghi's time - although it had been rebuilt.

I asked Kuchumov what happened to the Balcony but I he always thought I was just asking a general questionabout it  to which he answered 'lost during the war'.  I am not sure if he meant it was damaged and then removed when the facade was restored - or that the Germans removed it.

I can't believe the Germans would have bothered.  Would they have taken it apart for scrap metal and sent that back to Germany for the war effort?  I don't think so.  The Germans left the gates and so many other metal things around the palace this doesn't make sense.  Was the Balcony a valuable thing to be shipped back to Germany for some officer's country home - no.  I think it is likely it was damaged somewhat in the war - but not much.  This part of the palace was not destroyed.  So in my opinion the  Balcony and everything attached to the walls was ripped off after the war during the restoration of the exterior by the Soviets.  This is when all of the canopy fittings around the windows vanished as well.

I don't think anything from the balconies around the palace were saved - it would have been too much trouble.  In any case they will have to be rebuilt.

[BobAtchison]

I have checked my notes and the Balony was made by the Petersburg Metal Factory to designs by Danini.  As I mentioned earlier they might have used parts cast elsewhere.  I don't know where in the Petersburg area the factory was.

[Angie_H]

Weird question. Anyone know what color the wrought iron was?
Did it match the exterior of the palace or it's trim?

[BobAtchison]

I don't know - elsewhere in Petersburg I have seen the railings in black - but that doesn't mean they were black at the AP.  Somebody should contact the factory - wasn't it Joanna that found it - that says they have railings from Tsarskoe Selo.  They might know...