11 little known facts about the Kunstkamera
A story about how Peter the Great treated museum guests to vodka, and a headless skeleton walked through the halls. We recall the most curious and interesting facts from one of the oldest museums in the world.
1. "Tree Monster"
One day Peter was walking around the island and noticed a pine tree, one of whose branches had grown into the trunk and thus formed a semi-ring.
The emperor admired the pine tree, nicknamed it the “monster tree” and, having ordered it to be cut down, decided to build a building for the museum in its place.
2. Who built the building for the museum
Construction of the building lasted for sixteen years. Initially, it was carried out by the architect Mattarnovi, and after Gerbel, Chiaveri and Zemtsov, under whom the building acquired its final Baroque appearance.
Alas, Peter I never saw the new building, since at the time of his death the walls had just been erected, and by 1726 the collections were transported to the not yet completed building.
3. How Peter I treated museum guests to vodka
When the museum’s collection was located in the Kikin Chambers (in the house of the disgraced boyar Alexander Kikin, located near the Smolny Cathedral), the museum Peter ordered that the museum’s curiosities be available to absolutely everyone: both nobles and commoners.
Moreover, the emperor showed concern for the leisure of those who came to look at the “deformities in a large group: “Whoever comes with a company to look at the rarities, then treat them at my expense with a cup of coffee, a glass of vodka or something else.”
4. Amazing globe
You can’t count the amazing little things that filled the collection of the Kunstkamera before the fire of 1747. For example, on the third floor there was an amazing planetarium globe, which was presented to Peter as a gift. It was a ball with a diameter of about three meters, on the outer surface of which there was a map, and inside - an image of the starry sky.
Through a special hatch it was possible to get inside the globe and watch the rotation celestial bodies. Alas, in the flames of a fire in 1747, the globe was completely destroyed and subsequently had to be rebuilt using a metal frame.
During the years of the siege, he was even taken outside of Leningrad, but was later returned. Now a copy of the grandiose globe is on the fourth floor.
5. Flute made from human bone
Another unique exhibit in the collection is a flute made from a human femur. It was once made by a shaman of one of the Mongolian tribes.
It was believed that a mere mortal should not blow into it; the instrument was used exclusively for ritual purposes - to summon otherworldly forces.
6. Giant Man
From his fascinating trip abroad, along with many unique antiquities and relics, Peter I brought to St. Petersburg the Frenchman Nicolas Bourgeois, a man 226.7 cm tall, who, along with other “overseas gifts,” earned unprecedented interest from the court and ordinary people.
Nicolas lived as an imperial footman at court for seven years, after which he died of apoplexy. However, Peter I decided that even after his death, the faithful servant remained a unique and unlike anything else curiosity, and donated his body
7. Kunstkamera.
Until 1747, the skeleton stood peacefully in one of the display cases, but after the fire the head strangely...disappeared. The skeleton was not damaged in the fire, but the head, apparently, decided to leave the uncomfortable place without permission. Later, a new skull was installed in its place (interesting to know, whose?), and since then, the skeleton, according to rumor, has been walking through the spacious halls and looking for its head, frightening the guards and watchmen.
8. The Disappearing Head of an English Spy
A similar incident with a missing head took place a little later, in the post-Petrine era: the head of the executed English spy and child killer Maria Hamilton disappeared in an unknown direction along with alcohol from the flask in which it was located.
As usual, the incident was blamed on the main Russian enemy - drunkenness: they say that the alcohol was not poured out, but simply drunk. The loss of the head was attributed to the English sailors, whose ship was at that time in the St. Petersburg port.
The sailors promised to return the unusual exhibit to the museum, but did not fulfill their promise: they disappeared for a whole year, and then brought three male heads to the Kunstkamera employees. However, the exchange was recognized as equivalent and the capital authorities had no claims against the sailors after the “deal” was completed.
9. Ominous hours
Remembering the amusing “tales from the crypt”, it is worth mentioning the legend of the clock going backwards. Allegedly, in one of the halls there is a mahogany clock, brought to St. Petersburg from a distant journey by an unknown officer. They are all good: the case is solid, the carving is beautiful and the dial is skillfully made, but the problem is that their mechanism is not working.
But the clock was still left in the Kunstkamera. Since then, employees have been observing a strange thing: the clock periodically starts working, but the hands move in the opposite direction from the normal direction. Having reached the 9:45 mark, they whimsically stop.
They say that this is a bad sign: if this happens, then one of the employees will die soon.
10. Living museum exhibits
When the Kunstkamera was founded, among the jars with preserved embryos and human bones, there were people who acted as “living exhibits.”
The most famous was Fyodor Ignatiev, who lived within the walls of the museum for 16 years. He was only 126 centimeters tall, on his feet and right hand he had two fingers resembling claws, and on his left hand there were a pair of the same strange... hands.
11. Reward for “freaks”
The reformer Peter I in 1718, when obscurantism and prejudice was rampant, issued a decree according to which “human, bestial, animal and bird” monsters were to be delivered to St. Petersburg. In exchange for them, the emperor promised a large reward.
Those who decided to hide “gifts of nature” from the state faced a fine ten times higher than the assigned reward.
They say that the idea to create a museum where all sorts of outlandish things would be collected came to Peter the Great during a walk. Once, while walking around the city, the emperor saw a tree whose branches had intricately fused into an unusual ring.
The king gave the order to cut down the pine tree and build a museum on this site. The most unusual things from all over the world were to be exhibits in the cabinet. That is why the museum was called the Kunstkamera. From German this word is translated as “cabinet of curiosities.”
Initially, all the lots were stored in the rooms of the Summer Palace, but over time the collection began to grow, and the need arose to erect separate building. They started building the Kunstkamera in 1718, and completed construction 16 years later. By that time, nine years had already passed since the death of Peter the Great.
During construction, the rarities were placed in the mansion of A.V. Kikin. He was the first head of the St. Petersburg Admiralty, but was accused of conspiracy against the sovereign and executed. It is worth saying that people were not very willing to go to the museum.
Therefore, Peter ordered that all visitors be treated to a cup of coffee or a shot of vodka. This method of attracting people turned out to be very effective. 400 rubles were allocated annually from the royal treasury for the treat. At that time it was a very large amount.
What is worth seeing in the Kunstkamera
Governors were ordered to bring people, birds and animals with various pathologies to St. Petersburg. They were then exhibited in the Kunstkamera. And Peter himself in 1717 purchased 2 thousand exhibits for the museum from pathologist Frederic Ruysch.
One of the Kunstkamera lots is the skeleton of Peter’s servant, Nicolas Bourgeois. He got there because of his size. Bourgeois's height was 226 cm.
A copy of the largest globe is also kept within the walls of the museum. Its creator was Adam Olearia. The original globe weighed 3.5 tons, and its diameter was three meters.
In 1713 it was presented to Peter Alekseevich.
They took him to Russia for three years. However, the fate of this giant was sad: it burned down in a fire that occurred in the building in 1747.
It is known that with his “Great Embassy” Peter I visited Holland, where, in addition to shipbuilding, he studied other useful things. There he met the anatomist Frederik Ruysch, whose collection of unusual drugs both horrified and delighted all of Europe. For 30 thousand guilders, the sovereign bought several thousand exhibits from the doctor, and they formed the main fund of the museum. Among the most interesting is the two-headed skeleton of a child.
6. Bronze cat
The staff hid the cat, which brings misfortune, into the museum's storerooms out of harm's way - according to legend, the cat blinks from time to time and whoever is present will die soon. A certain student once decided to spend the night in the same room with the figurine... In the morning the poor fellow was not found. And only the bronze animal grinned ominously.
7. Another legend says that a faulty mahogany watch, brought back from a military campaign abroad by an officer, can predict death. Sometimes the arrows start moving in the opposite direction on their own. And as soon as they stop at the 9:45 mark, one of the Kunstkamera employees dies.
Currently, the unique collection of rarities is called the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography Russian Academy Sciences" (MAE RAS). Some medical exhibits, perfectly preserved to this day. Amazing with naturalism and every smallest detail, it is better not to watch for the faint of heart.
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A story about how Peter the Great treated museum guests to vodka, and a headless skeleton walked through the halls. We recall the most curious and interesting facts from one of the oldest museums in the world.
1. "Tree Monster"
One day Peter was walking around the island and noticed a pine tree, one of whose branches had grown into the trunk and thus formed a semi-ring.
The emperor admired the pine tree, nicknamed it the “monster tree” and, having ordered it to be cut down, decided to build a building for the museum in its place.
2. Who built the building for the museum
Construction of the building lasted for sixteen years. Initially, it was carried out by the architect Mattarnovi, and after Gerbel, Chiaveri and Zemtsov, under whom the building acquired its final Baroque appearance.
Alas, Peter I never saw the new building, since at the time of his death the walls had just been erected, and by 1726 the collections were transported to the not yet completed building.
3. How Peter I treated museum guests to vodka
When the museum’s collection was located in the Kikin Chambers (in the house of the disgraced boyar Alexander Kikin, located near the Smolny Cathedral), the museum Peter ordered that the museum’s curiosities be available to absolutely everyone: both nobles and commoners.
Moreover, the emperor showed concern for the leisure of those who came to look at the “deformities in a large group: “Whoever comes with a company to look at the rarities, then treat them at my expense with a cup of coffee, a glass of vodka or something else.”
4. Amazing globe
You can’t count the amazing little things that filled the collection of the Kunstkamera before the fire of 1747. For example, on the third floor there was an amazing planetarium globe, which was presented to Peter as a gift. It was a ball with a diameter of about three meters, on the outer surface of which there was a map, and inside - an image of the starry sky.
Through a special hatch one could get inside the globe and observe the rotation of celestial bodies. Alas, in the flames of a fire in 1747, the globe was completely destroyed and subsequently had to be rebuilt using a metal frame.
During the years of the siege, he was even taken outside of Leningrad, but was later returned. Now a copy of the grandiose globe is on the fourth floor.
5. Flute made from human bone
Another unique exhibit in the collection is a flute made from a human femur. It was once made by a shaman of one of the Mongolian tribes.
It was believed that a mere mortal should not blow into it; the instrument was used exclusively for ritual purposes - to summon otherworldly forces.
6. Giant Man
From his fascinating trip abroad, along with many unique antiquities and relics, Peter I brought to St. Petersburg the Frenchman Nicolas Bourgeois, a man 226.7 cm tall, who, along with other “overseas gifts,” earned unprecedented interest from the court and ordinary people.
Nicolas lived as an imperial footman at court for seven years, after which he died of apoplexy. However, Peter I decided that even after his death, the faithful servant remained a unique and unique curiosity, and handed over his body to the Kunstkamera.
Until 1747, the skeleton stood peacefully in one of the display cases, but after the fire the head strangely...disappeared. The skeleton was not damaged in the fire, but the head, apparently, decided to leave the uncomfortable place without permission. Later, a new skull was installed in its place (interesting to know, whose?), and since then, the skeleton, according to rumor, has been walking through the spacious halls and looking for its head, frightening the guards and watchmen.
7. The Disappearing Head of an English Spy
A similar incident with a missing head took place a little later, in the post-Petrine era: the head of the executed English spy and child killer Maria Hamilton disappeared in an unknown direction along with alcohol from the flask in which it was located.
As usual, the incident was blamed on the main Russian enemy - drunkenness: they say that the alcohol was not poured out, but simply drunk. The loss of the head was attributed to the English sailors, whose ship was at that time in the St. Petersburg port.
The sailors promised to return the unusual exhibit to the museum, but did not fulfill their promise: they disappeared for a whole year, and then brought three male heads to the Kunstkamera employees. However, the exchange was recognized as equivalent and the capital authorities had no claims against the sailors after the “deal” was completed.
8. Ominous hours
Remembering the amusing “tales from the crypt”, it is worth mentioning the legend of the clock going backwards. Allegedly, in one of the halls there is a mahogany clock, brought to St. Petersburg from a distant journey by an unknown officer. They are all good: the case is solid, the carving is beautiful and the dial is skillfully made, but the problem is that their mechanism is not working.
But the clock was still left in the Kunstkamera. Since then, employees have been observing a strange thing: the clock periodically starts working, but the hands move in the opposite direction from the normal direction. Having reached the 9:45 mark, they whimsically stop.
They say that this is a bad sign: if this happens, then one of the employees will die soon.
9. Living museum exhibits
When the Kunstkamera was founded, among the jars with preserved embryos and human bones, there were people who acted as “living exhibits.”
The most famous was Fyodor Ignatiev, who lived within the walls of the museum for 16 years. He was only 126 centimeters tall, on his legs and right hand he had two fingers resembling claws, and on his left hand - a pair of the same strange... hands.
Reward for "freaks"
10. Reward for “freaks”
The reformer Peter I in 1718, when obscurantism and prejudice was rampant, issued a decree according to which “human, bestial, animal and bird” monsters were to be delivered to St. Petersburg. In exchange for them, the emperor promised a large reward.
Those who decided to hide “gifts of nature” from the state faced a fine ten times higher than the assigned reward.
The Kunstkamera is one of the main attractions of St. Petersburg. This is the traditional name for the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography named after Peter the Great. There are many shocking facts associated with it.
Seal of the Antichrist
The name “Kunstkamera” comes from the German “kunst” - “rarity”. The first exhibits of the museum collection were purchased in 1714 by Peter I from the Dutch professor-embalmer Frederik Ruyschi. Basically, these were samples of various physical pathologies preserved in alcohol, for example, two-headed babies and other carriers of congenital deformities.
The exhibition was first opened for public viewing in the Green Room of the Summer Garden, and in 1718 it was transferred to the Kikin Chambers on Vasilyevsky Island. But people were not very keen to look at the rarities. There were rumors that they bear the stamp of the Antichrist, and in the museum premises there are even devilry. They said, for example, that the shadows of exhibits separate from objects and move independently around the hall.
In order to lure visitors to the museum, the emperor ordered not to charge an entrance fee and to bring each guest a glass of wine or vodka, and if someone does not drink it, then a cup of coffee.
After the death of Peter, in 1734, a new spacious building was built for the Kunstkamera. But in 1747 there was a fire there. Many exhibits were destroyed. Some of them, saving them from the fire, were thrown into the street by the attendants, where the museum property was irretrievably stolen by passers-by. Subsequently, people came up with the idea that the fire was caused, again, by otherworldly forces in charge of the museum.
Giants and dwarfs
For some time, under Peter, the Frenchman Nicolas Bourgeois served as a guide. He was a giant: the man’s height was 226.7 centimeters. In 1724, Bourgeois died of apoplexy, and his skeleton, as well as his heart, took a place in the Kunstkamera.
One of the legends says that during a fire, the head of Bourgeois’s skeleton disappeared and subsequently another skull was put on it. Since then, the ghost of the giant has been wandering the halls, looking for the lost body part.
And the dwarf Fyodor Ignatiev lived at the Kunstkamera for 16 years as an exhibit. Fedor’s height was 126 centimeters, and he was also a freak: Ignatiev had only two fingers on his right hand and feet. It seemed that these were not human limbs, but claws. According to stories, Tsar Peter, when appearing in the Kunstkamera, always personally greeted the dwarf by the hand.
Exhibits that bring bad luck
There are several legends about artifacts stored in the Kunstkamera that have mystical powers. For example, there is a clock in a mahogany case, the hands of which are usually standing, but allegedly sometimes they suddenly begin to move backward, always stopping at the same position - 9 hours 45 minutes. And after that, as a rule, one of the museum employees dies.
Another “cursed” exhibit is a figurine of a bronze cat. They say that from time to time she blinks, and if anyone is present, then a quick death awaits him. So, one student decided to spend the night in the pantry next to the notorious figurine, and the next morning they found no one in the pantry, only the cat grinned ominously. More young man no one has ever seen.
Human heads were kept in the Kunstkamera
Another legend says that once in the storerooms of the Kunstkamera there were two glass vessels, each of which contained in an alcohol solution human head. One allegedly belonged to the official and lover of Catherine I, Willim Mons, who was executed by Peter I, the other - to the ex-favorite of Peter I, Maria Hamilton, who was beheaded for murdering own child, born, however, not from the royal lover, but from his orderly Ivan Orlov. Hamilton also, while serving as the Empress's maid of honor, stole her jewelry.
IN late XIX centuries, historian Mikhail Semevsky tried to find containers with heads in the basements of the Kunstkamera, but to no avail. According to one version, they were buried on the orders of Catherine II.