Reference:4039 Ostropa Exhibition, Konigsberg, East Prussia, 1935

View of exhibition building. Armorials of Frederick I of Prussia upon the outstretched wings of a crowned eagle. Amber. 62 mm. (2.5 inches) in diameter.

Condition: Extremely fine and cased.

Notes: With amber being a scarce and sought after material, it is not known how many of these medals were made to commemorate Ostropa, which was the East European Stamp Exhibition - Osteuropäische Briefmarkenausstellung - held in Konigsberg, East Prussia between 25 June and 3 July 1935. The medal is contained in its fitted case of issue, the side stamped in gilt lettering Echt Bernstein (real amber). It evokes memories of the fabled Amber Room, which went missing after the Second World War. A masterpiece of Baroque art, which in 1716 Frederick I presented to Czar Peter the Great, it was said to have been illuminated by 565 candles whose light was reflected in the warm gold surface of the amber. When Hitler invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, his troops overran Tsarskoye Selo, dismantled the panels of the oversized jewel box, packed them up in twenty-seven crates, and shipped them to Königsberg. In January 1945, after air raids and a savage ground assault on the city, the room's trail was lost.