On the night of July 17, 1918, in the basement of Ipatiev’s house in Yekaterinburg, the royal family of Russian Emperor Nicholas II and members of her retinue were executed. The execution took place by order of the executive committee of the Ural Regional Council of Workers, Peasants and Red Army Deputies, which was headed by the Bolsheviks.
Resolution:
“In view of the fact that Czech-Slovak gangs threaten the capital of the Red Urals, Yekaterinburg; in view of the fact that the crowned executioner can avoid the trial of the people (a conspiracy of the White Guards has just been discovered, with the goal of kidnapping the entire Romanov family), the Presidium of the regional committee, in fulfillment of the will of the people, decided: to shoot the former Tsar Nikolai Romanov, guilty before the people of countless bloody crimes.”
To this day, there is no unanimity of opinion among modern historians on the questions of whether sanction was given for the execution of Nicholas II without trial, what actually happened, and whether sanction was given for the execution of the entire family, and not just the emperor. In addition, there is also no consensus among lawyers on the question of whether the shooting was authorized by senior management.
According to the records, the participants in the execution did not know how the “execution” would be carried out. On the night of July 17, a truck arrived at Ipatiev’s house to transport corpses, after which doctor Botkin from the royal retinue was awakened, who was informed that everyone urgently needed to go to the basement due to the alarming situation in the city. Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra Fedorovna, five children (Olga, Tatyana, Maria, Anastasia, Alexey) and four people from the royal retinue moved into the basement. Then the Commandant of the Ipatiev House, Yakov Yurovsky, introduced the firing squad and read out the verdict. The emperor was killed first, but the son and daughters of Nicholas II, as well as the maid and doctor, were not killed immediately by the executioners. According to Yurovsky, the emperor’s daughters wore bodices entirely covered with diamonds and precious stones, which, in some way, saved them from fatal bullets. According to the investigation, the survivors were finished off with a bayonet.
After Tsar Nicholas II and his family were executed by the Bolsheviks, a collection of personal photographs of the royal family was smuggled out of Russia. The albums offer a glimpse into the daily life of the Romanov family.
The photo is one of the few in the Romanov albums that focuses on the ordinary people of Russia
Grand Duchess Olga - firstborn of Nicholas II
Tsarevich Alexei is the heir to the Russian throne. The boy was 13 years old when he and his family were killed
Empress Alexandra with her devoted friend Anna Vyrubova and daughter Olga. Anna Vyrubova was arrested after the revolution, but managed to escape to Finland with albums that contain more than 2,600 photographs of the Romanovs' private lives. She died in Helsinki in 1964
“Komsomolskaya Pravda” for the first time publishes rare photographs of the emperor from his personal album, which spent almost a century in the storerooms of the Ural Museum [KP exclusive]
Change text size: A A
To celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty, a real relic was brought to Yekaterinburg - a photo album that belonged to Nicholas II. It contains 210 rare photographs of the royal family, most of which have never been published before. Almost all the photos were taken by Nikolai Alexandrovich or his children.
The emperor was very fond of photography and got his wife Alexandra Fedorovna and children addicted to it,” historian and employee of the Patriarchal Compound Museum Milena Bratukhina tells KP. - There was even a photo workshop in one of the park pavilions in Tsarskoe Selo. Nikolai Alexandrovich shot mainly with American cameras, and the Empress ordered photographic equipment from Great Britain.
The photographs are dated 1913-1916. The album contains many shots of army life. Then the First World War was going on, and the Tsar and his heir Alexei often visited the troops. But the main value of this album is the cards from the daily life of the royal family. Among the pictures there is even a photo with an elephant. It turns out that the first zoo in Tsarskoye Selo Park in St. Petersburg appeared under Nicholas I. It closed in 1917. The children of Nicholas II often came to the Tsarskoye Selo elephant sanctuary with their parents. The Emperor wrote about this in his diary: “He and Alexei brought an elephant to our pond and had fun bathing it.”
The album has been in the Zlatoust Local History Museum since the 30s of the last century. For many years it was carefully stored in storage rooms, and only a few knew about its existence. When the “royal” theme came out of the ban, the album was presented to the general public. But you can’t just watch it - only a few people can touch the album. Once a day, they turn over just one page and immediately put it under glass: museum staff fear for the safety of the photographs.
How the album ended up in Zlatoust is a mystery, says Nadezhda Prikhodko, director of the museum in Zlatoust. - Everyone knows that the royal family spent the last days of their lives in Yekaterinburg, which is 300 kilometers from our city. There is a version that the director of the Museum of the Revolution, Comrade Chevardin, brought the relic from Yekaterinburg. The museum was located in the house of engineer Ipatiev, and it was there that the august persons lived before their death. In 1933, Chevardin was transferred to Zlatoust, and he may have brought the album with him to save it from destruction. According to the second version, the photograph was transported by a revolutionary nicknamed Kasyan, also known as Dmitry Mikhailovich Chudinov, one of those who escorted the royal family from Tobolsk to Yekaterinburg. He lived in Zlatoust. And after the terrible reprisal against the Romanovs, he appropriated some of their belongings, and it is possible that this album, too.
“KP” thanks the Chrysostom Local Lore Museum and the Yekaterinburg Diocese for the photos provided.
1914 The royal family traditionally went on a summer trip to the Black Sea on the yacht “Standart”. But the photographs: Grand Duchesses Tatiana, Maria Olga, (from left to right) and Anastasia (in the center). The girls have been accustomed to this yacht since childhood. When they grew up, their parents allowed them to bathe on their own. The Grand Duchesses loved to fool around on deck and communicate with officers and courtiers.
1914 Peterhof. The Emperor poses on the shore. Most likely, this photo was taken by one of his children.
1916 Nicholas II and his youngest daughter Anastasia are relaxing in the city garden of Mogilev (during the First World War there was the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief). The Grand Duchess is 15 years old. And don’t let this shot shock you - at that time smoking was not something immoral. In 1915, Anastasia, when the Tsar was at Headquarters and she was in St. Petersburg, wrote to her father: “I’m sitting with your old cigarette that you once gave me, and it’s very tasty.” Of course, the Grand Duchesses did not smoke in public. And this photo is more of a joke.
1916 Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich in one of the parks in Tsarskoe Selo. In the hands of the heir to the throne is his beloved black spaniel Joy (translated from English as “joy”). The dog was with Alexei until the end of his days. The boy took him with him into exile. The dog outlived its owner - after his death, the spaniel was sent to London to Buckingham Palace. Please note: the shadow of the author of the photo, the king, is visible in the photo.
1916 The Emperor plays with his son on the banks of the Dnieper. The two of them arrived in Mogilev on October 1, 1915. The Tsar believed that this trip would benefit the future heir to the throne - instead of ordinary classes with a teacher within four walls, Alexey could see the life of ordinary boys.
1914 Tsarskoye Selo. The Tsarevich and his teacher's children are playing war. Alexey spent his entire childhood with them. The boys played together, drew, made snowmen and went canoeing.
1914 Tsarskoye Selo. Nicholas II and his son ride a boat in a local pond. The Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana and Maria are waiting for them on the shore. Nicholas II devoted a lot of time to his children, especially his only heir.
With the advent of new technologies, the history of a large country and a single event or person can be looked at from a different perspective. Specialist restorers do a tremendous amount of work every day to turn historical photographs from black-and-white and faded to color and high-quality.
Today we will look at new restored photographs of the royal family. Many of them are unique, since most of the photographs of the imperial family are still stored in photo archives in England and the USA, and there are practically no such photographs in the public domain.
Emperor Nicholas II and Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich
Nikolai Nikolaevich Jr. devoted his entire life to military service. On the eve of the First World War, Nicholas was appointed Supreme Commander-in-Chief of all land and naval forces.
All his life, awards and ranks rained down on the prince as if from a cornucopia. Nikolai Nikolaevich - received the nickname “Evil” in the army for excessive ambition and thirst for power.
Nicholas II on the station platform, to the right of the emperor - Colonel A.A. Mordvinov, January 30, 1916.
Still Tsarevich Nicholas, still Princess Alix, April 1894
Tsar Nicholas with his four daughters: Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia
The Emperor with his son and army officers in 1915.
Alexey and Nikolay – Livadia Palace
Nicholas II with his daughter Tatyana and sister Olga Alexandrovna, as well as an officer on the deck of the yacht “Standard”
Tsar Nicholas and his family
Alexander III family photo, 1889.
From left to right: Prince Alfred of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; Tsar Nicholas II; Ernst Ludwig; Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, Coburg, 1897
Emperor Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna during a visit to Great Britain with King Edward VII and the future King George V. 1909 Barton Manor
Imperial family in Crimea.
Nikolai and Admiral Sablin talking with Alexandra on board the imperial yacht Standart, 1912
Alexey with his parents at Headquarters
Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and Alexey.
Family. Grand Duke Ernie, Tsarina Alexandra with Tsar Nicholas II, Princess Irene and Henry of Prussia, Princess Elizabeth and Grand Duke Sergei, Princess Victoria and Prince Louis of Battenberg.
Alix and children
One of the last and most famous family portraits of the imperial family, 1913
The Imperial Family of Russia on board the Polar Star, 1905. Looks like it was a windy day!
The Grand Duchesses of Russia with their English aunt Victoria.
Tsar Nicholas II with his second daughter in Germany
In the photographic heritage of the Romanovs, many photographs are especially associated with the family of Nicholas II. The imperial family was portrayed by many famous photographers. What remains are studio photographs of outstanding masters of Russian photography G. Denyer, S. L. Levitsky, A. Pazetti, C. Bergamasco. While abroad, the royal family was photographed by famous foreign photographers: in Denmark - L. Danielson, M. Steen, G. Hansen, in Poland - L. Kowalski, in Germany - O. Skovranek, F. Telgman and others. When the Romanovs visited the cities of the Russian Empire, the photography was entrusted to the best city photographers: F. Orlov in Yalta, M. Mazur in Sevastopol, V. Barkanov in Tiflis, A. M. Ivanitsky in Kharkov, etc.
Emperor Nicholas II. 1900s
Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna with their daughters Grand Duchesses Olga and Tatiana. 1898
The largest collection of photographs of the last Russian emperor and his family was left by the photo studio “K. E. von Hahn and Co. "The atelier was opened in Tsarskoye Selo in 1887. It was owned by the wife of the assistant senior mechanical engineer Kazimira-Ludviga Evgenievna Jacobson, née Hahn. In 1891, Alexander Karlovich Yagelsky became a co-owner of the atelier, who since 1897 receives the exclusive right to photograph Emperor Nicholas II and his family. A. K. Yagelsky photographed the emperor during diplomatic receptions and visits, on trips around the country, during military maneuvers and reviews, official court events, on vacation on the imperial yacht “Standart”, in the Finnish skerries, in Livadia, while hunting on the estates of Spala and Belovezh. These photographs rarely reached the public and formed the imperial family’s own photographic archive. In 1911, A. K. Yagelsky received the honorary title of Photographer of His Majesty’s Court.
Parade of troops of the Moscow garrison. Moscow, 1903
Yagelsky was also the only one who was allowed to film the royal family. From 1900 until his death in October 1916, he was the personal cameraman of Emperor Nicholas II and left a very significant film archive.
Rope tug. Finnish skerries, 1911
Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia. Tsarskoe Selo, 1903
The famous reportage photographer K.K. Bulla photographed Nicholas II a lot. In 1904, he received permission to photograph “views of the capital, as well as celebrations in the Supreme presence.” From the Main Headquarters of the War Ministry, Bulla had a certificate of permission to “take photographic photographs during maneuvers and exercises of the Guard troops and the St. Petersburg Military District,” as well as a special certificate from the Main Naval Staff, allowing to take photographs “during maneuvers, reviews, exercises, descents and laying ships and, in general, all events relating to marine life.”
The heir is Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich. 1911
The Romanovs themselves left many personal albums with photographs - the Emperor, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, all children, including the heir, were passionate amateur photographers. Since Nicholas II got his first camera in 1896, he has never parted with it. Some of the albums were filled out by the emperor himself, pasting and signing photographs with his own hands. Each family member had personal photo albums, usually annually or for two or three years together.
Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna in the costumes of Russian tsars of the 17th century. 1903
Another category of the Romanovs’ photographic heritage is the photo albums of their close associates, those who, on duty, were with the emperor and his family on trips around the country and abroad, and especially during vacations. The Romanovs themselves, their personal photographer A.K. Yagelsky and the emperor’s associates took the largest number of family photographs on vacation, when the members of the august family were left to their own devices and less bound by the conventions of court etiquette. This close circle, which had the opportunity to take informal photographs of the family of Nicholas II, included large court officials, members of the emperor’s retinue, ladies-in-waiting, ladies of state, officers of the imperial yacht “Standard” and a number of other people.
Royal hunt in Belovezhskaya Pushcha. Seated: Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich (2nd from left), Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (3rd from left), Emperor Nicholas II (4th from left), Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich (6th from left). Standing: Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich Jr. (1st from left), Duke of Saxe-Altenburg Albert (2nd from left), head of the court youth section A.A. Grunwald (3rd from left), Baron V.B. Fredericks (7th from left), etc. Belovezh, 1897
The fate of the photographic heritage of the Romanov family in Soviet Russia is quite complicated and bears the imprint of the tragic fate of its owners. After the execution, documents and photographs of the Romanov house were transferred from archive to archive more than once. The photographic heritage is still insufficiently studied. We do not even know the approximate number of photographic objects in state repositories Russian Federation; It is also unknown what legacy has been preserved in the CIS countries and abroad.
Nicholas II in his office, 1900
From July 6 to September 9, 2018, the State Museum and Exhibition Center ROSPHOTO will host an anniversary exhibition dedicated to Emperor Nicholas II. This year marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of the last Russian emperor.
The best photographers of the Russian Empire photographed the imperial family. When traveling abroad, the Romanovs always ordered photographic portraits from famous foreign artists. The exhibition presents studio portraits of the families of Alexander III and Nicholas II, which occupy a special place in the work of their authors, outstanding domestic and foreign photographers.
A unique component of the exhibition is photographs taken by Nicholas II and members of his family. The Emperor himself, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, and all the children, including the heir, were passionate amateur photographers.
Based on materials provided by ROSPHOTO
