"The Whole Grove of Annenhof, a Hand basin, a Cane and Some Great Chairs of the Tsars, All Sold...": the Notions of Russia's Historical Heritage in the Early 1800s
| 10 September 2024
Posted in
Anniversaries
Boltunova E.M.,
Moscow, Russian Federation
"The Whole Grove of Annenhof, a Hand basin, a Cane and Some Great Chairs of the Tsars, All Sold...": the Notions of Russia's Historical Heritage in the Early 1800s
Abstract
The article discusses the emergence of the Russian historical heritage concept in the 1800s. The period in question was marked byan emergence of conscious interest in the national past. For instance, the first Russian historical museum – the Moscow Kremlin Armory – was opened in 1806. However, that was the period when professional institutions intended to store national heritage either had not yet beenbuilt or did not yet comply with modern rules and perceptions of archive, libraryor museum. The author analyses archival documents of His Imperial Majesty's Own Office (Kabinet Ego Imperatorskogo Velichestva) and the Expedition of Kremlin Buildings (Ekspeditsia Kremlevskovo stroeniya) storedin the Russian State Archives of Early Acts (Rossiyskiy gosudarstvennyy arkhiv drevnikh aktov- RGADA), fond 1239. Among other things, these institutions were responsible for safeguardingvaluable objects belonging to the ruling dynasty and, consequently, participated in shaping of the historical and cultural memory of the early 19th century Russian society.The author closely researches several cases of heads of these institutions (Ivan Tizengauzen and Piotr Valuyev) being accused of selling off some of the Romanovproperty. The ways they chose to fight the scandal greatly differed. The top officials of early Alexander I rule made their decisions in an ambiguous situationthat arose from amentality shift in estimating the value of such objects. The matter of functionality was by no means a priority, while the notion of symbolism seemed to play a significant role.
Keywords
History of memory, national heritage, Peter I, Lefortovo, Moscow Kremlin Armory, I.A. Tizengauzen, D.P. Troshchinskiy, P.S. Valuev.
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About the authors
Boltunova Ekaterina Mikhailovna, PhD in History, associate professor at the National Research Institute Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russian Federation, +7-903-171-76-61, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it