Skylines 03|14

DESTINATIONS
ST. PETERSBURG
Ein beliebter
Treffpunkt für
Romantiker: der
Schlossplatz vor der
Eremitage. A popular
meeting point for
romantics: the
Hermitage’s Palace
Square.
FOTOS: XXXX
vertraut ist, verdankt die Stadt Dasha
Zhukowa, der Freundin des Oligarchen
Roman Abramowitsch, der Fußballfreunden
vor allem als Eigentümer des FC Chelsea
bekannt ist. Auf New Holland Island hat sie
ein sommerliches Kulturzentrum mit
Galerien, Buchhandlungen, Cafés und
Freiluftkino eingerichtet.
Ein anderer Oligarch, Viktor Vekselberg,
setzt hingegen auf weniger kontroversielle
Kunst und erinnert lieber an das St. Petersburg
der Zaren und des Adels. Im Palais
Shuvalov hat er dieser Tage das Fabergé
Museum eröffnet. Gut 1.000 Arbeiten aus der
Werkstatt der Fabergés sind hier ausgestellt,
darunter das erste Ei, das der Goldschmied
Peter Carl Fabergé im Jahr 1885 angefertigt
hat, im Auftrag von Zar Alexander II., der es
seiner Frau als Ostergeschenk überreichte.
///
uch has been whispered, told and written
M about the insatiable appetites of the Tsarina
Catherine the Great; her numerous lovers and affairs
have been the stuff of many a novel and film.
Catherine also had strong opinions when it came to
political and military affairs, however: by waging
two wars, she finally wrested control of the Black Sea
coast away from the Turks, and conquered the
Crimean Peninsula.
On this occasion, however, we are primarily
interested in Catherine’s interest in the arts and
culture. The Tsarina, who was born Sophie Auguste
Friederike von Anhalt-Zerbst, admired Voltaire, and
communicated with the French philosopher in a
stimulating exchange of letters. She visited him at
his country estate at Ferney, and purchased his
library after his death.
Just like the founder of Russia’s second city, Peter
the Great, Catherine looked to the west with great
interest. She was a passionate collector of art,
acquiring pieces by Rubens, Titian, Rembrandt and
many others. In 1764 she purchased the collection of
Prussian entrepreneur and art dealer Johann Ernst
Gotskowski. It consisted of almost 225 paintings, the
majority by Flemish and Dutch masters, which
Catherine had hung in an outbuilding of the Winter
Palace, which she duly named her ‘Hermitage’, or
‘sacred retreat’. In the years that followed, Catherine
commissioned her ambassadors throughout Europe
with participating in auctions and acquiring works
of art – not just paintings, but also archaeological
and ethnological treasures, handicrafts, sculptures
and books – for the Hermitage.
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