Where Did I Put That Amber Room?

           At one point or another, it is pretty safe to assume that everyone has misplaced something in their lives. It happens. Maybe you assumed you had your keys in your pocket, but in actuality you left them at the restaurant you hurriedly evacuated after leaving a bad tip. Maybe you placed your fresh cup of coffee on the roof of your car, then subsequently forgot it was there. Maybe you just plain forgot where you put 18 minutes of the Watergate Tapes.

I know I had them when I left Richard's place...

            However, no matter what you lose, at least you are not responsible for losing the Amber Room. 

Also known as "the eighth wonder of the world," the Amber room was one of Russia's greatest treasures. Constructed in 1701, it was build out of amber, gold leaf, and mirrors. 

This is pretty much what Kanye West's house looks like.

         The room was moved around Russia several times until it settled in a St. Petersburg Palace. Skip ahead to 1941, as Nazis invaded St. Petersburg, evacuating Russians quickly wallpapered over the treasure in order to hide it from looters. Their attempts amounted to naught, as the Nazis quickly discovered the room and shipped the whole thing back to Germany.

          Once it safely arrived in Konigseberg, the room was proudly set on display. That is until 1945, as the Russians started advancing, Hitler gave the order that it should be packed up and sent to a more secure location. Honoring the big man's orders, soldiers had the room packed up and taken to a railway station for transportation. It was then promptly lost, never to be seen again.

The suspected culprit.

           Many theories exist as to how the room went missing. It could have been hidden away in some secret bunker, put on a ship that was sunk by the Allies, sold to "Cash4Gold" for like $53, who knows. Over the last few decades, massive searches have gone underway and all of them have been fruitless. The only piece of the room that was recovered was a small mosaic that a German soldier pocketed when he helped transport the room from Russia. It has since been reconstructed in St. Petersburg, although with significantly less real gold.