Peace Palace in The hague
On 28 August 1913, Queen Wilhelmina of The Netherlands opened the
Peace Palace in The Hague.
Queen Wilhelmina: Wikipedia
The idea of the Palace started from a discussion in 1900 between the Russian
diplomat Friedrich Martens and American diplomat White over providing a
home for the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA). White contacted
Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie had reservations, and at first was only
interested in donating money for the establishment of a library of
international law.
own picture taken in 2022
White, however, was able to convince Carnegie,
and in 1903 Carnegie agreed to donate the US$1.5 million ($50,000,000,
adjusted for inflation) needed to house the court as well as to endow
it with a library of international law. White described his idea to Carnegie:
"A temple of peace where the doors are open, in contrast to the Janus-temple,
in times of peace and closed in cases of war [...] as a worthy testimony of the
people that, after many long centuries finally a court that has thrown open its
doors for the peaceful settlement of differences between peoples".
Opening Ceremony
In 1907 the first stone was symbolically placed during the Second Hague
Conference. The construction began some months later and was completed
with an inauguration ceremony on 28 August 1913, attended by Andrew
Carnegie, among others. At the ceremony, Carnegie predicted that the
end of war was "as certain to come, and come soon, as day follows night."
own picture taken in 2022
Nowadays
In 2007, Queen Beatrix opened the new building for the Peace Palace
Library of International Law, housing the entire catalogue of the library,
a lecture hall and a new reading room in the bridge to the main building
of the Peace Palace. Like the new Academy Hall, the library was designed
by architects Michael Wilford and Manuel Schupp [de]. A Visitors Centre
was added to the Peace Palace in 2012, which is also designed by
Michael Wilford.
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