28 Facts About Elizaveta Ersberg

Elizaveta Nikolaevna "Liza" Ersberg was a German-Russian parlormaid who served in the Russian Imperial Household.

Elizaveta Ersberg used her post to obtain a position at court for her friend Anna Demidova, who became a lady-in-waiting to Empress Alexandra Feodorovna.

Elizaveta Ersberg was separated from them during their imprisonment at Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg in 1918, and was taken to Tyumen, ultimately surviving the revolution.

Elizaveta Ersberg accompanied the White Army into Yekaterinburg to look for the remains of imperial family members; hiring a boatman to help her search in a swamp and a pond.

Elizaveta Ersberg left Russia after the revolution and connected with the Dowager Empress, who gave her a subsidy.

Elizaveta Ersberg then went to Switzerland and Czechoslovakia before returning to Russia in 1928.

Elizaveta Ersberg died of starvation in 1942 during the Siege of Leningrad.

Elizaveta Ersberg was the daughter of Nikolai Ersberg, the palace stoker at Anichkov Palace, Gatchina Palace, and the Winter Palace during the reign of Emperor Alexander III of Russia.

Elizaveta Ersberg had a brother named Nikolai who was an official for the State Railway Inspection Control.

Elizaveta Ersberg's father died in the Borki train disaster in 1889.

Elizaveta Ersberg was chosen by Empress Maria Feodorovna to serve as a parlormaid at the Alexander Palace in 1898.

Some accounts state that Elizaveta Ersberg came from Germany as a personal maid to Empress Alexandra Feodorovna.

Elizaveta Ersberg lived in the thirtieth room on the second floor of the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoe Selo, next to the room of the nursemaid Alexandra Tegleva.

Elizaveta Ersberg had polished beech-wood and mahogany furniture in her suite, and an icon of Our Lady of Tsarskoe Selo hung on the wall.

Elizaveta Ersberg put together the imperial children's wardrobes and instructed the grand duchesses in needlework and knitting.

Elizaveta Ersberg was close to the children of the imperial family, and attended to them when the family vacationed at Livadia Palace in Crimea.

Elizaveta Ersberg joined the imperial women, and female servants, in assisting in medical work in hospitals throughout the war.

Elizaveta Ersberg wrote in letters to her family that the children of the imperial family were "modest and diligent".

Elizaveta Ersberg referred to Grand Duchess Olga as "a little spoiled and capricious" and said she "could be lazy".

Elizaveta Ersberg said that Grand Duchesses Tatiana and Anastasia were "always busy" with sewing and embroidery, and helped clean their rooms.

Elizaveta Ersberg was affectionately called "Liza" by members of the imperial family.

Elizaveta Ersberg travelled with the Imperial family to exile in Tobolsk.

Elizaveta Ersberg stayed with Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, and Anastasia and Tsarevich Alexei at the Governor's Mansion in Tobolsk after the Tsar, Tsarista and Grand Duchess Maria were taken to Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg.

Elizaveta Ersberg assisted Tegleva and the grand duchesses in hiding the jewels by sewing them into bodices and hiding diamonds and pearls by sewing them into buttons and sewing the buttons into the fur linings of hats.

Elizaveta Ersberg was later taken to Yekaterinburg in a fourth class train car with Tegleva, Kharitonov, Leonid Sednev, and some other servants; arriving on the night of 12 May 1918.

Elizaveta Ersberg accompanied the White Army into Yekaterinburg and hired a boatman to help her search for the imperial family members' bodies, looking in a pond and in a swamp, but was unsuccessful in finding remains.

Elizaveta Ersberg then went to Switzerland and Czechoslovakia before being allowed back into Russia, per a personal request made by her brother to Vyacheslav Molotov, in November 1928.

Elizaveta Ersberg died of starvation on 12 March 1942 during the Siege of Leningrad.