World's 8th Wonder

**World's 8th Wonder** is the third episode of Season 1 of Expedition Unknown.

## Plot Synopsis

Gates' hunt for the Amber chamber takes him to Catherine Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia for research. Then to Germany, where he retraces the steps of Nazi soldiers who looted the treasure during World War II as he explores abandoned bunkers and a silver mine in hopes of finding the chamber.

## Historical Context

"From 1933 to 1945, the Third Reich systematically plundered art from across Europe. Amidst the stolen horde is one object more precious than all the rest... it's an entire room. The Amber Chamber. Crafted entirely of amber, gold, and precious stones, the Amber Chamber was once displayed in St. Petersburg's Catherine Palace, where it was dubbed The Eighth Wonder of the World."

- Josh Gates

## Summary

Josh begins his journey in Saint Petersburg, Russia and goes to Catherine Palace. There he meets with historian Vladmir Checkunov. They see a facsimile of the Amber Room at the palace that took twenty-four years to replicate. Josh takes the Red Arrow train to Kaliningrad, Russia which used to be the German city of Königsberg. The Amber Room was sent to Königsberg Castle and displayed there for elite members of the Third Reich. However, the castle was bombed by the Allied Forces in 1945.

A local security guard denies the group access to the House of the Soviets, which sits over the ruins of Königsberg Castle. Josh's translator talks to the man and after a negotiation, they're allowed inside. He doesn't find anything at the castle. Nearby, Josh meets with chief historian Avenir Ovsianov who says no big amber pieces have been found meaning it was moved someplace else.

Josh goes to Berlin, Germany and then to Auerswalde, Germany. In Auerswalde, Josh meets with Matthias Gluba who believes that the Amber Chamber was taken to Auerswalde along with Dora and Gustav, the two biggest guns ever built. Matthias has found aerial photos from around the war that show there were six extra cars on the train that took Dora and Gustav that were unaccounted for in documents but are shown in the photos. When Allied Forces arrived at that train depot they found those six train cars were empty.

Josh goes to Auerswalde Forest to search bunkers. The first bunker he finds has been bombed out completely. The second one they send a camera down into, but they find another opening to the bunker a couple of yards away. Josh descends down into the bunker to find only a bunch of old military debris. Josh heads to Rothenthal, Germany to meet treasure hunter, Gaensel, a former CIA spy. Gaensel has a letter of a soldier who was driving a truck with a mysterious shipment from Königsberg. He saw a mirror in one of the boxes, similar to one from the Amber Chamber. The letter states that the shipment was taken near the town of Deutschneudorf.

Josh goes to Deutschneudorf to meet with the mayor, Peter Haustein. He meets with Peter and his crew in the forest. Josh works some of their machinery as they search for an above-ground entrance to the mines beneath the town, which may hold the boxes containing the Amber Chamber. The mayor, his assistant, and Josh go to where an old factory once stood and head into the three-hundred-year-old mines. They get to a part of the mine that has yet to be explored, however, it begins to collapse and they have to leave.

## Final Words

"In the end, what's so compelling about the Amber Chamber is not what's been lost, but what so many have laboured passionately to find. In Saint Petersburg craftsmen have toiled for decades to re-create the pride of the nation. In Kaliningrad, relics stolen to a once-mighty castle are being recovered and deep beneath the surface, a historic mine is slowly revealing its own long buried secrets. It seems fitting that the Nazis' divisive aim to covet and destroy great cultural treasures has only served to unite nations in a cooperative effort to preserve their heritage. There's no real, hard evidence that the Amber Chamber wad destroyed, and as more masterpieces continue to turn up, nearly three quarters of a century after the war, perhaps the Amber Chamber is still out there, waiting patiently for someone to bring it back into the light."

- Josh Gates

## Notes & Trivia

* In the Most Dangerous Moments episode, they air an originally unaired part of the episode where Josh goes to a Nazi stronghold turned museum in Kalinigrad. There they meet Sergei Trifdnov, a historian who grants access for Josh to go down into a Nazi bunker that has been sealed for 70 years."

## Quotes

* "I'm apparently in the opening of a James Bond film"
* "Okay, I can probably work a Russian automated ticket machine. Okay from - this Saint Petersburg to the Klingon home world, I think"
* "I got boxed lunches, wrapped buns, and I don't know, Russian lotto scratchers. What else could you need? This is the lap of luxury here."
* "Think of it as the Russian Alaska. But with less snow and more Lenin statues."
* "Known locally as the monster, it has the dubious honour of being considered the ugliest building ever built."
* "Can I get, like, 40 gallons of Purell, please?"
* "Bucket list item number 237, illegally enjoy a beer in the Czech Republic"
* "I swear, I have my German excavator drivers license."
* "Is this like a rocket launcher or - horn, got it."
* "Josh goes int he bunker. Last time we might see him."
* "Okay, so the plan is tie some knots in this frayed, old rope, shimmy down, and hypothetically, back up the rope. I never made it up the rope in gym class, so this is not maybe my best idea, but you know, I didn't have a watery Nazi abyss under me in gym class either so I have a lot more motivation now."

## Gallery

Photos shown in the slideshow are from Travel Channel's World's 8th Wonder slideshow. If you hover over the images, their exact image address will appear.

* Josh stands in front of Saint Basil's Cathedral in Saint PetersburgGo to https://travel.home.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/travel/fullset/2015/01/05/bd/expedition-unknown-103-germany-amber-room-ss-003.rend.hgtvcom.966.644.suffix/1491581121741.jpeg
* The reconstructed Amber Room at Catherine PalaceGo to https://travel.home.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/travel/fullset/2015/01/05/5a/expedition-unknown-103-germany-amber-room-ss-004.rend.hgtvcom.966.644.suffix/1491581121832.jpeg
* Josh explores the Bunker Museum in Kaliningrad, RussiaGo to https://travel.home.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/travel/fullset/2015/01/05/f4/expedition-unknown-103-germany-amber-room-ss-007.rend.hgtvcom.966.644.suffix/1491581121477.jpeg
* Josh works equipment at the dig site in DeutschneudorfGo to https://travel.home.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/travel/fullset/2015/01/05/98/expedition-unknown-103-germany-amber-room-ss-009.rend.hgtvcom.966.644.suffix/1491581121817.jpeg
* Kaliningrad, RussiaGo to https://travel.home.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/travel/fullset/2015/01/05/35/expedition-unknown-103-germany-amber-room-ss-010.rend.hgtvcom.966.644.suffix/1491581121621.jpeg
* The Red Arrow Train in Saint PetersburgGo to https://travel.home.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/travel/fullset/2015/01/05/3c/expedition-unknown-103-germany-amber-room-ss-011.rend.hgtvcom.966.644.suffix/1491581121840.jpeg
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## References

1. ↑ https://travel.home.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/travel/fullset/2015/01/05/1a/expedition-unknown-103-germany-amber-room-ss-001.rend.hgtvcom.966.644.suffix/1491581121666.jpeg