Exhibition "The House of the Romanovs and the Urals"

About exhibition

The exhibition reveals in detail the role of the House of Romanov in the exploration and development of the Ural region and tells of the direct connections to Yekaterinburg and other Ural cities of such members of the dynasty as Emperor Alexander I; the heir‑tsesarevich and future Emperor Alexander II; the son‑in‑law of Emperor Nicholas I, Chief Manager of the Corps of Mining Engineers Duke Maximilian of Leuchtenberg; and the sons of Alexander II, Grand Dukes Vladimir Alexandrovich and Alexei Alexandrovich. The closest ties between the House of Romanov and Yekaterinburg are associated with the Siberian–Ural Scientific and Industrial Exhibition of 1887, organized at the initiative of the Ural Society of Natural Science Lovers (UOLE). The honorary president of the exhibition, and later the august patron of UOLE, was Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich, Chairman of the State Council of the Russian Empire. After his death, the patronage of the society and its museum passed to Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich, a well‑known Russian historian. At the turn of the 19th–20th centuries, six more members of the imperial family were honorary members of UOLE. This direct connection of the UOLE Museum, from which the Sverdlovsk Regional Museum of Local Lore traces its origins, with the House of Romanov is shown for the first time in the new exhibition. A special section is devoted to the biography of Emperor Nicholas II. In 2023 the 155th anniversary of the birth of the last emperor of the Romanov dynasty was observed. In the year marking the 105th anniversary of the death of the imperial family in Yekaterinburg, this tragic subject will be one of the main themes of the new exhibition, as will the topics of identifying the remains and commemorating the members of the House of Romanov who died in Yekaterinburg, Perm and Alapaevsk. Nuns of the Alexander Nevsky Novo‑Tikhvin Monastery painted an icon specifically for the exhibition depicting the holy royal passion‑bearers. Visitors will see it in the final hall.