Peace Palace
Peace Palace | |
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Louis M. Cordonnier | |
Awards and prizes | European Heritage Label |
Website | |
https://www.vredespaleis.nl/ |
The Peace Palace (Dutch: Vredespaleis; pronounced [ˈvreːdəspaːˌlɛis], The Hague dialect: Freidespalès [ˈfʁeidəspaːˌlɛːs]) is an international law administrative building in The Hague, the Netherlands.[1] It houses the International Court of Justice (which is the principal judicial body of the United Nations), the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), The Hague Academy of International Law and the Peace Palace Library.
The palace officially opened on 28 August 1913; it was originally built to provide a home for the PCA, a court created to end war by the
History
Background
In 1908, Thomas Hayton Mawson won a competition to design the grounds. Because of budget constraints, he also had to discard design elements: mountains and sculptures. He made use of a natural watercourse on the site.
Conception
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. 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".
Were such a fabric to be created, men would make pilgrimages from all parts of the civilized world to see it. It would become a sort of holy place, prized and revered by thinking men throughout the world, and to which, in any danger of war between any two countries, the minds of men would turn naturally and normally. The main difficulty now is that the people of the various nations do not really know what was done for them by the Conference; but such a building would make them know it. It would be an "outward and visible sign" of the Court, which would make its actual, tangible existence known to the ends of the earth"
- —Andrew Dickson White to Andrew Carnegie, 5 August 1902
At first Carnegie simply wanted to donate the money directly to the Dutch Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands for the building of the palace, but legal problems prohibited this, and in November 1903 the Carnegie Stichting was founded to manage the construction, ownership, and maintenance of the palace. This foundation is still responsible for these issues.
Construction
To find a suitable design, the foundation called for an
The palace is filled with many gifts of the different nations who attended the
In 1907, the first stone was symbolically placed during the
In 2007,
In 2002, an eternal peace flame was installed in front of its gates.
Occupants
The Peace Palace has accommodated a variety of organisations:
- Permanent Court of Arbitration (1913–present) The original occupant for which the Peace Palace was constructed. From 1901 until the opening of the palace in 1913, the Permanent Court of Arbitration was housed at Prinsegracht 71 in The Hague.
- Permanent Court of International Justice (1922–1946) and its successor the International Court of Justice (1946–present). In 1922 the Permanent Court of International Justice of the League of Nations was added to the occupants. This meant the library was forced to move to an annex building, and the Permanent Court of Arbitration was moved to the front left of the building. In 1946, when the United Nations replaced the League of Nations, the International Court of Justice was established as the UN's principal judicial organ.
- Peace Palace Library of International Law (1913–present). Being the original vision of Carnegie, the library grew quickly to house the best collection of material on international law. Although this stature is well in the past, the library still contains some original classical works, as the original copies of Hugo Grotius' works on peace and law and Erasmus' Querela Pacis.
- The Carnegie Stichting (1913–present)
- Tobias Michael Carel Asser. Funds for the academy came from another peace project by Andrew Carnegie, namely the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, established in 1910.
Other international courts in The Hague, the Iran–United States Claims Tribunal, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and the International Criminal Court, are separate organizations, located elsewhere in The Hague.
Interior
The palace also features a number of statues, busts and portraits of prominent peace campaigners from around the world and of all eras.
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 9780909506155.
- ^ "Piece of the Palace; A special project aimed at making international audiences part of the Centennial Celebrations | Peace Palace Library". Archived from the original on 14 July 2018. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
- ^ Cited in Bruno Tertrais, "The Demise of Ares: The End of War as We Know It?" Washington Quarterly, 35/3, (2012): p 17.
- ^ "Designs of Visitor Centre of the Peace Palace presented | Peace Palace".
Further reading
- Joor, Johan; Stuart, Heikelina Verrijn (2013). The Building of Peace. A Hundred Years of Work on Peace Through Law. The Peace Palace 1913–2013. ISBN 978-94-6236-086-0.
- Eyffinger, Arthur (1988). The Peace Palace: Residence For Justice, Domicile of Learning. ISBN 90-6611-331-6.
- "A GLIMPSE OF THE PALACE OF PEACE, JUST DEDICATED: From an Architectural Standpoint It Has Aroused Adverse Criticism, but It Is a Superb Structure, the Interior Being Especially Beautiful". The New York Times. 7 September 1913. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
- "The Temple of Peace at The Hague". JSTOR 20666789.
External links
- Official website
- Peace Palace Library
- Website for Projects connected with the 100 year anniversary of the Peace Palace
- The ICJ in the Service of Peace and Justice, Conference organised on the Occasion of the Centenary of the Peace Palace, 23 September 2013