This is a virtual walk through the city of the Hague, based on the Hague Peace Trail, developed by the International Network of Museums for Peace as part of the project ‘Discover Peace in Europe’.
It includes images, poetry, quotes and information about the peace and nature highlights that this city holds, brought to you by the Bertha von Suttner Peace Institute.
The sites of the original Hague Peace Trail are indicated by the blue and pink wings and link to historical background information for further reading.
Walk this virtual route from the comfort of your mobile phone!
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Our first stop is
The Hague provided a safe haven for victims of religious persecution, in particular Jewish refugees. Baruch de Spinoza, who was expelled from his Amsterdam community, was a main advocate for an ethics of tolerance.
Baruch de Spinoza
Our path leads us along the
More than 10.000 Jewish residents of The Hague were murdered in concentration camps, including 1700 children. The monument near the former Jewish school commemorates the names of 400 pupils, symbolized by the empty chairs.
The Jewish neighbourhood is gone. The children are gone. Taken away and murdered in World War II. Because they were Jewish. 1700 Hague-Jewish children never returned. Many of them played here. Went to school here. Let us not forget them and make sure that something like this never happens again.
This is the text, written in Dutch and Hebrew, that encircles the monument
This monument used to be in the Gedempte Gracht in The Hague. It was created in 1967 by Dick Stins and unveiled again after a renovation in 2007. It is in the form of the Star of David. In it, there is a family seeking protection and at their feet is a victim of the Holocaust.
Both the location of the 1907 Second Hague Peace conference and the mysterious death of peace advocate Yi Jun during this conference, the former hotel is now a museum dedicated to educate people about Yi Jun his spirit of justice and freedom and to further the higher cause of world peace.
(c) Anna Banasiak
Where he died in 1677.
The house has been preserved with a library collection that includes his manuscripts, as well as studies about his legacy.
In the 19th century, Spinoza’s ethics became a source of inspiration for initiatives to outlaw the barbarity of war and political hatred.
Often closed to the public, which holds the oldest pear tree
of the Netherlands
On a hill overlooking the Rock River
my father's pear tree shimmers,
in perfect peace,
covered with hundreds of ripe pears,
with pert tops, plump bottoms,
and long curved leaves.
Until the green-haloed tree
rose up and sang hello,
I had forgotten...
He planted it twelve years ago,
When he was seventy-three,
so that in September
he could stroll down
with the sound of the crickets
risng and falling around him,
and stand, naked to the waist,
slightly bent, sucking juice
from a ripe pear.
A heritage house dedicated to the principle associated with Russian lawyer Feodor Martens of the protection of war victims. Unfortunately this place will close its doors soon.
on to Prinsegracht 8, where we find
Feodor Martens
This elegant building is the visible result of the Convention on Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes, the first seat of the Permanent Court of Arbitration.
Hidden in the city centre, behind the city monastery, lies a small garden filled with creative expressions.
Tini Brugge (translated in 2020)
a gift of the Hindustani-Surinam community, the double monument offers a memory of the harsh experiences of the first migrants, and contributes to a culture of peace in the neighbourhood.
on to the Hobbemaplein
Mahatma Gandhi
opposite this statue stands a
in remembrance of the hindustani immigrants.
The other part of the monument depicts 140 years of migration history of the Hindustani-Surinam community.
The name of this neighbourhood derives from the independent Dutch-African 'Boer Republic' in 19th century South Africa. Street names used to honour racist 'apartheid' public figures such as Paul Kruger. In the 1990s, the names were changed and the previous Boerenplein became the Nelson Mandela Square, celebrating the peaceful abolition of Apartheid in South Africa.
in Transvaal
Nelson Mandela
All images used in this part of the Peace and Nature Highlights were either made by R. Verhoeff or used with permission by the creator.
Pear tree Heilige geest hofje © www.bomenbieb.nl by Ruud Steggerda
All images edited with grainy film B03 in Snapseed.
The texts on the website of the INMP Peace Trail are written by Marten van Harten, photos by Nike Liscaljet.
All poetry included is used with permission of the author or from the public domain.
Make sure to check out part 2