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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Apart from the building, no trace is left of the former Oranje-Nassau Hypotheekbank. The life of its managing director Johan Gerard Daniel Wateler (1857-1927) remains a mystery, except for the fact that he founded the second oldest continuous peace prize after Alfred Nobel.
and the Oranje-Nassau Hypotheekbank
A name shield on the façade of cinema Pathé still refers to the prestigious hotel Des Deux-Villes. The restaurant wing was built in 1904 for hosting the festive diners of the Second Hague Peace Conference in 1907 and the expected future conferences. In the central Art Nouveau hall, the Bremen-based shipping company Norddeutsche Lloyd sponsored a fully equipped press centre.
Hugo Grotius
In and around the parliament buildings, we find milestones of the traditions that mark The Hague as the City of Peace and Justice. These are connected with the work of the 17th century lawyer Hugo Grotius and, not to forget, the action of his wife Maria Reigersberg.
Inner Court
During the First Hague Peace Conference, this theatre was packed with an audience attending the lectures of the Polish 'King of the Railroads' Jan Bloch, illuminated with facts and figures about the devastating consequences of the next war.
This romantic park with flowerbeds, fountains, hedgerows and ponds lies directly behind Noordeinde Palace.
The Hague counts 12 out of 21 bat-species, more than other cities because of the very old oak and beech trees that surround the many estates of the city, like this one planted in 1920 in a garden of Noordeinde 164.
for the fallen employees of the Dutch Post Office, Telegraphs and Telephony Company. The standing male figure is the personification of resurrection. The reclining female and male figure at the bottom symbolize the victims of war.
on to the nassauplein
Inscription on the Central monument for fallen PTT-ers
Commemorating the liberation of the Hague during WWII. A framework with symbolic freedom-loving birds in a flight upwards.
A monument to commemorate the end of Dutch conscription. With the monument, artist Shinkichi Tajiri wants to express the apparent contradiction between 'surrendering your freedom' and 'serving and protecting freedom'.
opened in 1913. It can be considered a global cross-roads of memories of peace and justice. It houses the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the United Nations International Court of Justice and The Hague Academy of International Law.
this connector between the cities of the Discover Peace Project got a permanent place here at the opening of the project in 2014. It is also part of an ongoing art installation around the world by Yoko Ono, inspired by Wish Trees in Japanese Shinto temples. Visitors are invited to add a wish to the tree.
From
It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men"
Christmas Bells
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The carillon of 48 bells in the high tower of the Peace Palace was donated between 1986 and the Centenary in 2013, by various sponsors. Carillonneurs of the Peace Palace, the belfry of Ypres and the Universities of Leuven, and Toronto initiated the War Memorial and Peace Carillons network.
Designer Thomas Mawson expressed the peace thought in his choice of botanical elements: no sharp thorns, only trees and shrubs with small leaves were used. For the big pond a natural water course from the dunes was adapted. Water, just like peace, is one of the first conditions of life. The roses in the abundant rosarium symbolize love.
free spirits lingering
in a scarlet red world
your independence
an intimate alley to
Erasmus' rose-beds
awaiting a fountain
of blue enlightenment
fan of forign freedom
king's maecenas gives
wings to a trophy
of justice, maps
a spectacular amphora
as your judges
blissfully rush through
marble corridors of
the temple of peace
magistrates stitch a story
swing in signatures
Carnegie's million
in libraries full of libertine
[...]
[...]
free spirits lingering
in a scarlet red world
your independence
an intimate alley to
Erasmus' rose-beds
awaiting a fountain
of blue enlightenment
fan of foreign freedom
Hanneke Eggels (2013)
unveiled in 1936 as a symbol of moral resistance against new threads of war and extreme injustice.
Sweet is war for those who lack the experience
The humanist scholar Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam used this expression in his condemnations of war in 16th Century Europe. The well-known Dutch sculptor Hildo Krop put these words on the pedestal of his Erasmus statue in the garden of the Peace Palace.
a gift from Australian and New Zealand members of the Women's International League of Peace and Freedom with support by the Bertha von Suttner Peace Institute and the Carnegie Foundation, the tree was planted on 12th June 2015 in commemoration of both the centenary of WILPF and the Australians and New Zealanders supporting the allied forces in the First World War.
Embassies and foreign ministries from every country and region of the world contributed stones indigenous and of significance to their nations. The stones represent their nation’s yearning for, and commitment to, peace.
A present from Benjamin Ferencz, the last surviving prosecutor of the Nazi crimes to the city of The Hague, lawyer and activist, heavily involved in the lobbying efforts to create a permanent international criminal court.
All images used in this part of the Peace and Nature Highlights were either made by R. Verhoeff, used with permission by the creator.
Bats/oak tree 1920 - © 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 3