The Sheremetev Palace Interiors in Saint Petersburg late 1800s

The baroque Sheremetev Palace on the Fontanka River was built c1750 by the architects Chevakinsky and Argunov for Count Peter Sheremetev in place of the former country estate of his father whose wife was a cousin of Peter the Great.

Aerial views (below) of the Anichkov Palace in the lower center and the Sheremetev Palace at the upper right side of the Fontanka River

 

The interiors of the palace were reconstructed and redecorated during the next century by famous architects: G. Quarenghi, A. Voronikhin, I. Starov, D. Quadri, I. Corsini, N. Benois.

V. Sadovnikov Watercolor c1840s (below) of the Sheremetev Palace

 

L. Premazzi Watercolor c1867 (below) of the Sheremetev Palace

 

In 1871 the historian Count Sergei Sheremetev inherited the estate. He was a childhood playmate in the Winter Palace of the sons of Emperor Alexander II, aide-de-camp and State Councillor during the reign of Alexander III and his children were close friends with the future Nicholas II.

Photographs c1870s-90s (below) of the Drawing Rooms

 

 

Photograph c1890s (below) of the Dining Room

 

Photographs c1870s (below) of the Study Cabinet

 

 

 

Photographs c1870s (below) of the Boudoir

 

Photograph c1870s (below) of the Bedroom

The Small Church for the Imperial Family in the Courtyard of the Winter Palace

Between the apartments of Emperor Nicholas I and Empress Alexandra in the northwest section of the Winter Palace and the grand dukes in the west section was the private Small Church [154] for the imperial family. Its windows faced into the Large Courtyard.

Photograph c1850s (below) of the Large Courtyard in the Winter Palace

 

On the right was the Ambassadors Entrance with Empress Alexandra’s Winter Garden [152] above on the 2^nd floor. To the left are the three rectangular windows of the Small Church on the 2^nd floor and two that also faced the Entrance. The Small Church spire is visible on the roof. The row of windows on the far left was the apartment for the younger grand dukes [157 to 160]. The windows above the Small Church on the 3^rd floor was the former Diamond Room that Nicholas II had ordered moved to the 1^st floor in 1895.

Plan of the 2^nd floor -  https://winterpalaceresearch.blogspot.com/2016/10/plan-list-of-2nd-floor-of-winter-palace.html

Aerial View (below) of the Winter Palace from Palace Square towards the north’s Neva River with the Large Courtyard in the middle and the Small Church section in the upper left

 

Photograph c1900s (below) of the Large Courtyard in the Winter Palace

 

Photograph (below) of the corner section windows of the Small Church today [note the two small entrances to the basement are still there – see above photo c1860s]

 

Watercolors c1839 and c1862 of the Small Church interiors –

https://winterpalaceresearch.blogspot.com/2016/11/small-church-in-winter-palace.html

Empress Alexandra Feodorovna Hairstyle 1820-1830

In the early 1800s the empire style became the fashion for women. Queen Luise of Prussia was famous for her beauty and style.  Her daughter Charlotte married the future Emperor Nicholas I in 1817 and was known as the Grand Duchess Alexandra Feodorovna. The simplicity and elegance of her mother’s era had changed. The elaborate hairstyles and gowns at imperial balls were similar to the French style of the 1770-80s.

P. Sokolov’s Portraits c1820s (below) of Grand Duchess Alexandra

A. Briullov’s Portrait c1830 (below) of Empress Alexandra

The Victorian age of fashion in the 1840s was adopted by Empress Alexandra (photograph below c1859).

Record Books of Visitors to the Alexander Palace 1907-1908

The Winter Palace Commandant was responsible for the protection of the imperial family. Archival documents reveal that after the death of Nicholas I in 1855 access to the palace was lax until 1866 when stringent security measures were adopted. The methods were followed when Nicholas II and Alexandra moved permanently to the Alexander Palace in 1905.

Aerial view (below) of the Alexander Palace [note the entrances] and the Kitchen Building on Dvortsovaya Ul. on the left

 

Photograph (below) of Their Majesties Own Entrance to the Alexander Palace

At each of the entrances guards maintained detailed records of all visitors to the palace. The pages were divided into columns: arrived/departed, rank/surname, whom/where, name of assistant accompanying guest, if guest stayed overnight and if guest searched. Ninety-five percent of visitors were searched except for example the architect Meltzer or Fabergé. Most were servants, suppliers, painters, etc. who entered through the Kitchen tunnel. The first visitor was at 5:30 am with the delivery of bread from the bakery for Their Majesties Own Buffet.

Architect Danini’s Drawing c1897 (below) of the Tunnel between the Kitchen Building and basement in the Alexander Palace

Excerpts from the Record Book November 13^th 1907 to March 18^th 1908:

• November 13 - 50 people  – Elizaveta Sidorova went to rooms of Grand Duchess Elizabeth from 4:30 pm to 10:15 – was searched

• November 14 - 24 people – Meltzer at Their Majesties from 10:45 am to 11:55

• November 15 - 60 people – dressmaker Petrova to lady-in-waiting Orbeliani from 9:50 am to 5:40 pm

• December 31 – 85 people – Nun Vorobyov who went to children’s floor to nurse Vishnyakova from 2:40 pm to 10:55 pm – the last visitor brought a telegram ‘To Their Majesties and Their Highnesses” at ten minutes after midnight

• January 1 – gardener Moknev from the Tauride greenhouses brought fresh flowers to Their Majesties from 8:00 am to 11:10 – the Emperor was congratulated by his nurse Legonkov from 8:55 am to 10:15 who received traditional New Year’s gift of money from Nicholas II

• January 26 – dressmaker Mme Brezak and assistant to children’s floor from 3:45 pm to 4:40 and again on March 15^th from 9:45 am to 12:02 – Mme Brezak was searched

During August and September 1908 while the imperial family was in Peterhof, another book records the daily arrival of painters, plasterers and plumbers who were renovating the rooms of the palace. From August 16^th workers began laying electrical cables. On August 31^st painters were finishing Alexandra’s dressing room.  In early September carpenters and varnishers were in the children’s rooms and on September 10^th in the English Suite.

Prince Albert’s Private Secretary

On June 18^th 1859 Dr. Ernst Becker, private secretary to Prince Albert, sent a telegram to Carl Ruland at his home on the Hesengasse in Frankfurt. ‘It is very desirable that you come at once telegraph the hour of your arrival to Buckingham Palace. Dr. Becker. Windsorcastle.’

Photograph c1859 (below) of Dr. Ernst Becker and Carl Ruland

 

Copy (below) of Dr. Becker’s Telegram June 18^th 1859

 

Dr. Becker had proposed the twenty-five year old Carl Ruland as his successor. Ruland was at that time a teacher of German and French at the Frankfurt Musterschule. He took over the duties as private secretary and the German library in the royal collections at the end of 1859. Two days after the death of Prince Albert on December 14^th 1861 Ruland wrote to his parents that ‘for the time being I shall go into the service of the queen in a very confident way’. He remained in England for the next six years.

In 1869 Grand Duke Karl Alexander of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, the son of Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, appointed Carl Ruland director of the Grand Ducal Art Collections in Weimar. He was considered an excellent art connoisseur and accomplished museum man.

 

Photograph c1870s (below) of the Grand Ducal Museum in Weimar

 

Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Germany was looking for a successor for the seventy-year old director Heinrich Hotho of the Kupferstichkabinett [Museum of Prints & Drawings] in Berlin. In the fall of 1871 he assigned the Prussian diplomat Karl von Normann with the task of approaching Carl Ruland to offer the post of director. On January 22^nd 1872 Normann wrote to Ruland confirming the discussions ‘a few months ago we agreed that His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince would make a personal attempt to influence the Grand Duke to free you from the obligations which bind you in Weimar and to win you over to Berlin’. But Ruland declined the offer. On February 9^th 1872 Grand Duke Karl Alexander thanked his director for the ‘rejection of the honorable and advantageous call made to him from Berlin’.

Photograph c1890s (below) of the Altes Museum in Berlin which held the Kupferstichkabinett

Two years later on January 2^nd 1874 Karl von Normann again approached Ruland on behalf of the Crown Prince after the death of Hotho with another offer. But in the meantime Ruland had married on November 20^th 1873 the Weimar court actress Marie Schulz and a son was born later in 1874. He remained in Weimar and in 1886 was the first director of the Goethe National Museum.

Photograph c1899 (below) of the Goethe House in Weimar celebrating the 150 anniversary of the birth of Johann Wolfgang Goethe

 

Dowry for Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna

The January 1805 issue of The Journal of Luxury and Fashions published by Friedrich Bertuch and distributed throughout Europe featured a detailed list of Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna’s dowry. The grand duchess had married the hereditary Prince Karl Friedrich of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach in the Winter Palace on August 3^rd 1804.

Illustration in the Journal’s January 1805 issue (below) of the Throne Bed for Grand Duchess Maria’s new home in the Weimar Palace

 

The bed was designed by Andrei Voronikhin, the architect of the Rose Pavilion in Pavlovsk. Empress Maria Feodorovna ordered the drapery and cover of sky-blue velvet from the manufacturer Van der Borcht & Kint in Brussels. Archival documents note that Voronikhin also had made richly carved and gilded furniture for the bedchamber that was missing in the journal’s article: two tables, two sofas, eight chairs, two tabourets [stool see above] and fireplace screen.

Photograph (below) of the Throne Bed exhibited in the Weimar Palace today

Aerials (below) of the Palace in Weimar

 

Emperor Alexander I had ordered in 1803 a wedding carriage to be constructed for his sister (below) along with four others for her Weimar stables. The dowry had been sent ahead overland and by ship in August. Maria Pavlovna and Karl Friedrich left Saint Petersburg on October 7^th 1804, arriving in Weimar on Friday November 9^th.

Photograph (below) of the Wedding Carriage

 

Friedrich Preller Painting c1849 (below) of Maria Pavlovna's Arrival at the Palace in Weimar on November 9^th 1804

Prince Albert’s Stepmother’s Last Will Beneficiary

Princess Marie of Wurttemberg at the age of thirty-three married her uncle Duke Ernest of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha on December 23^rd 1832. She was his second wife and the stepmother of princes Ernest and Albert.

Aerial (below) of Schloss Friedenstein in Gotha

Her father Prince Alexander of Wurttemberg, the brother of Empress Maria Feodorovna, had married in 1798 Antoinette of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, the sister of Ernest. During the reign of Emperor Alexander I, the family lived in the Winter Palace. Evenings the three friends Empress Elizabeth, her sister Amelie of Baden and Antoinette would meet together in the empress’ rooms on the 2^nd floor of the palace. In December 1809 Elizabeth and Amelie prepared Christmas gifts for Antoinette’s children. ‘For Marie at ten years her mama asked for objects to engage her interest’. The empress also gave her a pair of ‘small loop earrings with a big diamond and a little pearl’.

Photograph c1858 (below) of Schloss Friedenstein [Duke Ernest II’s Album, Coburg Archives]

 

During a visit to his daughter in 1833, Prince Alexander died unexpectedly on July 4^th in Schloss Friedenstein and was buried in the Gotha ducal vault with his wife who had passed away in 1824 in Saint Petersburg.

On June 14^th 1840 Empress Alexandra and her daughter Grand Duchess Olga arrived in Gotha at the Zum Mohren Inn. Duchess Marie wrote in her diary that her old friend Alexandra ‘toured Gotha, the new theatre and admired from a distance the Inselberg. She thinks Gotha prettier than Weimar’. The next morning Marie went with the empress to Eisenach for breakfast.

Photograph c1858 (below) of Gotha from Schloss Friedenstein with Prince Ernst of Wurttemberg’s Palais in the lower right [Duke Ernest II’s Album, Coburg Archives]

 

Photograph c1858 (below) of the Theatre in Gotha [Duke Ernest II’s Album, Coburg Archives]

 

Dowager Duchess Marie, widowed in 1844, finalized her Last Will on November 20^th 1851. She appointed her cousin Emperor Nicholas I as the executor and declared Empress Alexandra as her sole heir.

On September 24^th 1860 the Dowager Duchess Marie died in Schloss Friedenstein. She left a fortune of 119,828 rubles and jewels worth 100,000 guilders. Emperor Nicholas I had died in 1855 and with the death of Empress Alexandra six weeks after Marie, Emperor Alexander II rejected the acceptance of the inheritance in favor of Marie’s brothers, Alexander and Ernest of Wurttemberg.

Photograph c1858 (below) of Prince Ernest of Wurttemberg’s Palais in Gotha [Duke Ernest II’s Album, Coburg Archives]