Exhibitions abroad: Exposition marking the coronation of Alexander II opened in Berlin

Exhibition in honor of 155th anniversary of the coronation of Emperor Alexander II and Empress Maria Alexandrovna, née Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt, opened at the Russian Embassy in Berlin.

The organizer of the exhibition is the German Society of Pushkin, in cooperation with the German-Russian Forum.

"The exhibition features 96 exhibits, 59 of which - the originals," – said the Pushkin Society vice-chairman, Andrei Chernodarov.

Also displayed at the exhibition are 18 colored original lithographs. However, the center of the exposition is the imperial coronation album of 1856.

According to A. Chernodarov, the exhibition organizers’ idea was, in particular, to show an example of close relations between Russia and Germany, and not only in historical perspective. On display are exhibits from German collections: graphic portraits of the Romanov dynasty from the collection of Dmitry Rovinsky, historian and collector.

According to A. Chernodarov, Coronation Code and portraits of the royal family in a private collection in Germany were found by Professor Hermann Goltz from Halle.

The ceremony of Alexander II coronation took place in the Dormition Cathedral of the Kremlin. There were published 200 copies of the richly ornamented album. 100 copies were issued in French and 100 - in Russian. The coronation album was intended to be offered to foreign guests of the ceremony and Russia's highest dignitaries.

The exhibition at the Embassy displayed a rare copy of the album in French. The vertical size of the book is 91.5 cm, horizontal - 69 cm. The thickness of the book cover with printed golden royal crown, crest and monogram - 7 centimetres, the total weight of the volume - 25 kilograms, i.e. 1,5 Russian pood.