Hermitage Museum Hermitage Museum The State Hermitage Museum () is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The second-largest art museum in the world, it was founded in 1764 when Empress Catherine the Great acquired an impressive collection of paintings from the Berlin merchant Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky. The museum celebrates the anniversary of its founding each year on 7 December, Saint Catherine's Day. It has been open to the public since 1852. Its collections, of which only a small part is on permanent display, comprise over three million items (the numismatic collection accounts for about one-third of them), including
Hermitage Volunteer Service the discussion surrounding this controversial project. The Summer University of the State Hermitage Museum is the direct result of the WHY project. Since 2009, the Volunteer Service has organized the Summer University each July in collaboration with the Russian company Rosatom. Students, often from remote areas of Russia, are invited to participate in a series of events and activities designed to educate them about cultural tradition. For many of them, the Summer University is the first opportunity to discover and to explore the notion of cultural heritage. The Volunteer Service organizes various activities in conjunction with this programme. Project Ropsha