Frederick William I, the King of Prussia, could never have imagined that his greatest gift to the Russian people would have such an amazing history. This gift was the Amber Room, which was given this name because several tons of amber were used to make it. The amber which was selected had a beautiful yellow-brown colour like honey. The design of the room was in the fancy style popular in those days. It was also a treasure decorated with gold and jewels, which took the country’s best artists about ten years to make.普鲁士国王腓特烈·威廉一世从未想过，他送给俄罗斯人民的最伟大的礼物会有如此惊人的历史。这个礼物就是琥珀屋，之所以取这个名字，是因为它是用了好几吨琥珀制成的。所选的琥珀有一种美丽的黄棕色，就像蜂蜜一样。房间的设计采用了当时流行的别致风格。这也是一个用黄金和珠宝装饰的宝藏，这个国家最优秀的艺术家花了大约十年的时间才制作出来。
In fact, the room was not made to be a gift. It was designed for the palace of Frederick I. However,the next King of Prussia, Frederick William I, to whom the amber room belonged, decided not to keep it. In 1716 he gave it to Peter the Great. In return, the Czar sent him a troop of his best soldiers. So the Amber Room became part of the Czar’s winter palace in St Petersburg. About four metres long, the room served as a small reception hall for important visitors.事实上，这个房间并不是用来作为礼物的。它是为腓特烈一世的宫殿设计的。然而，琥珀室所属的下一任普鲁士国王腓特烈·威廉一世决定不保留它。1716年，他将它交给了彼得大帝。作为回报，沙皇派遣了一支由他最好的士兵组成的部队。因此琥珀屋成为沙皇在圣彼得堡冬宫的一部分。这个房间长约四米，是接待重要访客的小大厅。
Later, Catherine II had the Amber Room moved to a palace outside St Petersburg where she spent her summers. She told her artists to add more details to it. In 1770 the room was completed the way she wanted. Almost six hundred candles lit the room, and its mirrors and pictures shone like gold. Sadly, although the Amber Room was considered one of the wonders of the world, it is now missing.后来，凯瑟琳二世把琥珀屋搬到了圣彼得堡郊外的一座宫殿，在那里她度过了夏天。她告诉她的艺术家们要添加更多的细节。1770年，这个房间按照她想要的方式完成了。近六百支蜡烛照亮了房间，镜子和图画像金子一样闪闪发光。遗憾的是，尽管琥珀屋被认为是世界奇迹之一，但它现在却不见了。
In September 1941, the Nazi army was near St Petersburg. This was a time when the two countries were at war. Before the Nazis could get to the summer palace, the Russians were able to remove some furniture and small art objects from the Amber Room. However, some of the Nazis secretly stole the room itself. In less than two days 100,000 pieces were put inside twenty-seven wooden boxes. There is no doubt that the boxes were then put on a train for Konigsberg, which was at that time a German city on the Baltic Sea. After that, what happened to the Amber Room remains a mystery.1941年9月，纳粹军队在圣彼得堡附近。那是两国交战的时候。在纳粹进入颐和园之前，俄罗斯人从琥珀屋搬走了一些家具和小艺术品。然而，一些纳粹分子偷偷地偷走了房间。在不到两天的时间里，10万件物品被放入27个木箱中。毫无疑问，这些盒子随后被放在开往柯尼斯堡的火车上，当时柯尼斯堡是波罗的海沿岸的德国城市。在那之后，琥珀屋发生了什么仍然是个谜。