“There is not even a hundredth part of the truth in the newspapers” – Picture of the Day – Kommersant

185 years ago, on December 17, 1837, a fire broke out in the center of Russian power – the imperial residence – and lasted more than a day. But in the article about the fire written by the mentor of the heir to the throne, the famous poet V. A. Zhukovsky, some passages did not please Emperor Nicholas I, and it was published only half a century later, other not quite loyal memories of that fire did not disappear.

“His physiognomy was less severe than usual”

From an article by State Councilor V. A. Zhukovsky “The Fire of the Winter Palace”, written in January 1838, banned for publication and printed for the first time in 1885.

… The Winter Palace, as a building, as a royal dwelling, perhaps, did not have a similar one in the whole of Europe. With its immensity, it corresponded to that vast empire, which served as the center of forces … A foreigner who visited the capital of the North stopped in amazement before its hugeness. Perhaps the exacting taste, examining it in parts, could be offended by a certain discordance in their composition, and the variegation of dilapidated decorations, and the smallness of countless columns, and the multitude of colossal statues that stood on this mass like a forest on a huge rock …

Here, autocracy, passed from tsars to emperors, merging with law and respect for humanity, was formed from the ancient unaccountable autocracy into a beneficent, life-giving, educational power, on the firm integrity of which the existence of Russia stands …

From the publication of the newspaper “Northern Bee”, December 21, 1837.

The northern capital has lost its best decoration. The Winter Palace has become a prey to the flames. Just as good children, with sadness of soul, surround the ruins of their beloved father’s house, in which they received life and all the blessings of life, so we, faithful subjects, lament on the smoking remains of the house of our Great Sovereigns, in which our happiness was created, our glory, was prepared for seventy-five years. and in the future the fate of our children …

The loss caused by this disaster is great and sensitive, but it is limited only to what was not in the human ability to save from the destructive action of the enraged elements. The main building of the Palace fell victim to the fire, but the Hermitage survived, and all the jewels, all the utensils, papers, paintings, even all the little things from the rooms of Her Majesty the Empress, saved by all the ranks of the Guard who were on fire, were taken out of the Palace itself. On the causes of the fire, the strictest research is being carried out, by the Highest command: it seems that the fire originated from the laboratory of the Court Pharmacy.

The fire started from the eastern part of the Palace, adjacent to the Hermitage, and, along the narrowness of the alley lying there, along the narrowness of the stairs, which had to be climbed to give help, spread with a strong wind, with unusual and irresistible speed.

Communication with the Hermitage was immediately cut off by laying down its windows and this part of the Palace was saved, but the fire made its way to the attic, and spread along the huge rafters to all other parts of the main building of the Palace. Starting on Friday the 17th, at eight o’clock in the evening, the fire continued with equal intensity for thirty hours; the efforts of the fire brigade and the troops who arrived to help, which turned out to be insufficient to stop the flames, were directed mainly to saving the things that were in the rooms. At the very beginning of the fire, some regiments of the Guards Corps formed an impenetrable chain around the Palace from all sides, and thus, protecting it from crowds inseparable from similar cases, contributed to the preservation of perfect order. People from all parts of the city gathered in dense crowds in the adjacent places and on the Neva, and in silent grief looked at the destructive effects of fire, praying to God for the prosperity of the August Family.

The zeal, jealousy and self-denial of all the persons used in the extinguishing cannot be expressed: they should not be encouraged to fulfill their duty, but kept from excessive and useless courage.

The Sovereign Emperor, for almost the entire duration of the time shown, was in the fire and Himself deigned to dispose of all actions. Seeing the impossibility of stopping the fire, He ordered that all efforts be directed to saving the Hermitage, and the Supreme Will was carried out with success: this only storehouse of the jewels of Art remained inviolable …

From the diary of the professor of the department of Russian literature of the Imperial St. Petersburg University, court adviser A. V. Nikitenko, December 18, 1837.

During the night there was a fire in the Winter Palace: it burned all night and is still on fire. I was now (at two o’clock in the afternoon) walking across the square. Now it is burning in the half of the sovereign, his office, and so on. On Nevsky Prospekt, especially closer to the square, there is a terrible bustle. The people in a solid mass bring down to stare at a rare performance. Things are constantly being taken out of the palace. I met the sovereign; he rode in a sleigh and bowed very friendly; pale but calm. It seemed to me that his physiognomy was less severe than usual.

From the diary of the wife of the Austrian ambassador in St. Petersburg, Countess D. F. Ficquelmont, December 21, 1837.

… It is impossible to describe the impression of the spectacle of this terrible fire! So many priceless memorabilia, so many beautiful things were consumed by the fire, and no human forces united together could resist it!

“With a sense of reverence for the Tsar’s property”

From the publication of the newspaper “Northern Bee”, December 24, 1837.

… From a general overview of things, we can conclude that almost everything survived. Relics, sacristy, all utensils and all images were saved from both churches. The royal regalia and diamonds were transported intact to His Majesty’s office; also managed to take out both thrones from both throne rooms chandeliers, candelabra and decorations, both from cast silver and bronze, and almost all portraits from the military gallery.

The lower ranks of the troops of the Guards Corps carried things with such a sense of reverence for the property of the Tsar, with such caution, with all speed, that there was almost no damage in anything …

From the notes of the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment Cornet Baron E. I. Mirbach, who was on December 17, 1837 in the Winter Palace.

… The sovereign ordered me to put two sentries in the corridor to guard the utensils taken out of the court church and dumped in disorderly heaps on the floor. Other sentries were placed outside at the Saltykovsky entrance and in the space between it and the fireplace for warming the coachmen, where the things taken out of the Empress’s rooms were stored. Paintings by the first masters, malachite boxes, wall and table clocks, small bronze chairs, and a host of other valuable objects of the most varied nature lay here, no matter how it happened, on the snow. The clock with music, set in motion by its fall, suddenly began to play a charming aria, in ironic contrast to the surrounding scene.

I had to look after everything. There was a terrible fuss: the people who carried things were God knows who, and standing on the very aisle, I was extremely afraid that something would not be stolen.

An hour before, in my eyes, a massive silver coffee pot had been stolen from an infantry guardhouse.

The Guards soldier, familiar with the area, knocked over the assigned watchman and rushed with a coffee pot into the courtyard embraced by fire in order to break through the large gate.

One measure finally reassured me a little about the theft. In order to preserve possible order among the huge masses of the fleeing people, thick chains were stretched from the guards regiments, in all directions around the palace, through which no one was allowed to go back or forward …

From a letter from the son of collegiate adviser A. M. Fadeev – R. A. Fadeev, who was preparing to enter the artillery school in St. Petersburg, mother – E. P. Fadeeva in Astrakhan, late 1837 – early 1838.

… Many incidents happened in St. Petersburg at that time, of which the most remarkable, of course, was the fire of the winter palace. Imagine this majestic, stone mass, enveloped in flames, which burst out like pillars of fire from the windows and roof; the sound of falling ceilings and walls, and, finally, a crimson, bloody glow that settled over the site of this terrible fire, and smoke that covered the entire sky.

The palace was in turmoil.

The wealth of all kinds, collected by the reign of ten Kings, perished in the fire: jasper vases, marbles, bronzes, expensive parquets, wallpaper, mirrors; thousands of precious little things were heaped in heaps, and all this was littered with burnt logs and, they say, many corpses of people who died under their rubble.

The soldiers, assigned to save everything that could be saved, instead broke into the cellars and from there rushed in drunken crowds into the inner chambers, where, for their own fun, they beat and broke everything that came across to them. The whole area was full of heaps of piled things …

“Were weak-willed witnesses”

From the publication of the newspaper “Northern Bee”, December 22, 1837.

With the disastrous case of a fire in the Winter Palace, which struck all the inhabitants of the capital with woeful amazement, it was impossible to do without exaggerated news of the misfortunes that had happened. To our extreme regret, indeed thirteen people became victims of the diligent performance of their duty … Moreover, several firemen were injured, mostly lightly …

From a letter from R. A. Fadeev.

… A strong wind increased the strength of the fire, and with its gusts, the fiery sea parted and, among the flames, groups of statues appeared at the top, smoked with smoke, as if spirits or fiery salamanders. Half the fire brigade was rumored to no longer exist. To top it off, in one huge hall, where a whole company of Izmailovites crowded, the ceiling suddenly collapsed and several dozen people were buried under burning firebrands. Twenty thousand guards and probably more than a hundred thousand people were weak-willed witnesses to this terrible incident. Finally, they saw the impossibility of putting out the fire and it was ordered to leave the palace to burn out. It burned for three days, surrounded by troops bivouacs in the square, and now, instead of a magnificent, vast winter palace, there are only black walls.

I think you read the description of the fire in the newspapers, but rest assured that there is not even a hundredth part of the truth: I heard all the details from two officers who were with the teams all the time on the fire.

Publication by Evgeny Zhirnov