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View of Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg

The State Hermitage Museum (Russian: Госуда́рственный Эрмита́ж, tr. Gosudárstvennyj Ermitáž, IPA: [ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪnɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ]) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The second-largest 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.