GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- A Florida explorer plans to send television probes into the Nazi bunkers deep beneath the German city of Weimar in search of the legendary Amber Chamber stolen from a Russian palace during World II.
The location of the Amber Chamber, a room fashioned entirely of amber and housing amber candlesticks, busts and other furnishings, is one of the deepestmysteries of the art world.
The room was conceived by King Frederick I of Prussia in 1701 and installed 54 years later at Catherine Palace near St. Petersburg, Russia. The palace was captured by Nazi troops two centuries later and the chamber was shipped to Germany, where it vanished in the later days of World War II.
Norman Scott, president of Global Explorations Inc. of Gainesville, is among the researchers who believe the fabled chamber and other missing artworks may lie beneath the streets of Weimar.
Hundreds of bunkers and catacombs lie beneath the city in former East Germany and they have been largely unexplored since the end of World War II.
'There's been a tremendous amount of lost art treasure taken and a lot of that has never surfaced,' Scott said.
The city has strong ties to the Third Reich. Hitler visited frequently during his reign and the origins of the Nazi party can be traced to Weimar.
Since 1945, the city has been controlled by three different governments. For different reasons, each has left the bunkers undistrubed.
Scott said the city's older residents, including many former Nazis, believe the contents of the bunkers might dredge up a horrible past.
'They wanted to forget about Adolf Hitler,' he said.
But public interest was stirred recently by Russian President Boris Yeltsin, who said he believed the Amber Room is in Weimar.
The German government has conductd cursory seismic tests of the bunkers, but drawn few conclusions.
Scott has received permission to survey the bunkers with sophisticated electronic devices. When he visits in late July with a 15- member staff, he will bore holes and send in television cameras if he detects objects inside.
Scott expects the project, budgeted at $525,000, will take five to six weeks of geophysical work and then a couple weeks of excavation.
In addition to the possibility of finding Nazi files or art treasures, Scott anticpates the catacombs will yield some human corpses. Workers who built the bunkers came from the Buchenwald concentration camp.
Records were kept for each crew that participated but it appears the last crew never was seen again. Historians speculate they may have been executed and entombed there to ensure security.
Scott said if he finds the Amber Chamber or any other treasures, he will leave them to their rightful owners, the Russians and the Germans, though the countries would likely battle over any discoveries.
Scott would get his reward through an arrangement with Life magazine and ABC television, which are helping sponsor the excavation, and through any book offers he may get.
He expects the venture will also yield historical rewards.
'It's almost like a perfect time capsule,' Scott said.
