The Hermitage and the Siege of Leningrad

The story of the Hermitage during the Second World War is one of the museum’s most moving chapters. In a matter of weeks staff saved most of the collection; then, in a besieged and starving city, they preserved the buildings and the treasures that remained. This feat is part of the memory of the Siege of Leningrad.

The 1941 evacuation

The Hermitage had prepared for evacuation in advance — packing materials and plans were ready before the war, so the work moved fast, with staff labouring around the clock. In the summer of 1941, two trains carried the museum’s treasures from Leningrad to Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg) — more than a million objects, under heavy guard.

A third train never left: the siege ring closed in September 1941, and the objects already prepared for evacuation spent the whole war in the museum’s cellars. The operation was led by the museum’s director, the orientalist Iosif Orbeli.

The empty frames

The best-known image of the wartime Hermitage is its empty frames. As the canvases were taken down for evacuation, staff left the frames hanging in place. It was a deliberate decision: so that after victory every picture could be returned to its exact spot and the displays restored quickly. The empty gilded frames on the walls of the frozen, damaged halls became a symbol of faith in return — and one of the museum’s most powerful wartime images.

The museum in the besieged city

Life in the Hermitage did not stop, even in the worst months:

• bomb shelters were set up in the Winter Palace cellars, home to staff, scholars, artists and their families — several thousand people;
• despite hunger, cold and shelling, scholarly work continued, with meetings and lectures held; a ceremonial session marking the anniversary of the poet Nizami took place in the besieged city in 1942;
• staff kept watch on the roofs, put out incendiary bombs and patched roofs and broken windows to protect the buildings from snow and rain.

The wounds of war

The buildings were badly damaged: 17 artillery shells and two aerial bombs struck them, wrecking floors and glazing, with rooms freezing and leaking. And yet the collection and the walls were saved — that is the central achievement of the siege years.

Return and post-war reopening

The collections came back from Sverdlovsk in the autumn of 1945 — two trains reached Leningrad on 10 October 1945. As early as 8 November 1945 the Hermitage reopened to visitors, who were welcomed by 69 restored halls. Repairing the war damage took many more years.

What to see today

Many of the rescued masterpieces are back in the galleries — among them Rembrandt’s Return of the Prodigal Son and Danaë. Plan your visit with the one-day itinerary and the floor plan.

FAQ

Where was the Hermitage evacuated to during the war? To Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg) — two trains in the summer of 1941, more than a million objects.

Why were there empty frames during the siege? The paintings were taken down for evacuation, but the frames were left in place so the works could be returned to their exact spots after the war.

When did the Hermitage reopen after the war? On 8 November 1945, after the collections returned from evacuation.