Rarely has a personal story been so interwoven with the course of world history as that of the last Tsar of Russia and his family. The exhibition presents the life of the last Tsar and Tsarina, Nicholas II (1868�1918) and Alexandra (1872�1918) and their five children Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and the Tsarevich Alexei. As symbols of the old Russia, the Bolsheviks in Yekaterinburg murdered them in 1918, six months after the Tsar had abdicated. Numerous personal possessions, correspondence, paintings, photos and objets d�art owned by the family will be on show at the Hermitage Amsterdam, from September 18, 2004 through February 13, 2005.

Hermitage Amsterdam In February 2004, the first phase of Hermitage Amsterdam opened to the public, with an exhibition on the finest Greek Gold jewelry. For the Olympic year of 2004, a breathtaking selection of over 100 of the finest pieces from the Hermitage in St. Petersburg is on show through August 29.

The Neerlandia Building (part of Amstelhof) is the first phase of the master plan for the Hermitage Amsterdam. Small temporary exhibitions drawn from the rich collection of The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg will be presented in six exhibition galleries. Each exhibition will be on view for around five months. The new museum will be located in The Amstelhof, a 17th century building. The next exhibition, in 2005, will feature Venetian paintings with masterpieces by Tintoretto, Guardi, Canaletto and Tiepolo. The exhibitions in Hermitage Amsterdam will explore the themes of anthropology, history and art.

For more information on these and other (art)events, visit www.holland.com (click on what�s on).

For travel information on Holland, please contact the Netherlands Board of Tourism: � Phone: 212-557-3500 � E-mail: info@goholland.com � Website: www.holland.com

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Media Contact: Irma Jansen Netherlands Board of Tourism +1 212-370-7360 ext. 24 ijansen@goholland.com