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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honouring the leading lady of the Hague Peace Conference. Among a wide range of peace and human rights NGO’s, the building hosted the International Network of Museums for Peace, presently based in Kyoto.
The statue group 'Conversation' at the entrance of the NIBC Bank expresses the atmosphere of dialogue that is typical for The Hague. The reception room displays pictures and a commemoration book of the bombed Royal Art Gallery Kleykamp.
Everyone suddenly burst out singing;
And I was filled with such delight
As prisoned birds must find in freedom,
Winging wildly across the white
Orchards and dark-green fields;
on - on - and out of sight.
Everyone's voice was suddenly lifted;
And beauty came like the setting sun:
My heart was shaken with tears; and horror
Drifted away ... O, but Everyone
Was a bird; and the song was wordless;
the singing will never be done.
Everyone Sang
on the wall across the street we find the poem
by Siegfried Sassoon
founded in 1694, in no man’s land at
the inland toll-gate of the Scheveningseweg, served both Sefardic and
Ashkenazi Jews. Now it is a unique piece of nature and peace in the middle of a busy city. It is generally closed to the public, but a guided tour is possible.
According to Judaism all matter in the cemetery belongs to the deceased and must remain there. Gravestone-fragments collected during the restoration of the wall in 2006 have been assembled in a small monument on the cemetery.
The Dutch lawyer Tobias Asser received the Nobel Peace Prize (1911) for the first building block of the system of The Hague, the Conference on Private International Law. In his view peace is closely connected with the protection of civil rights.
Near the World Forum we pass the striking building 'the mushroom' of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2013.
dedicated to all victims of chemical weapons. It is composed of a living tree that emits oxygen, a metal tree with solar panels and a virtual tree that grows through traces left by visitors.
This green oasis on the Scheveningseweg is a hidden gem. There are special plant species in the park and people and animals alike can find a peaceful retreat there.
A rare fern with dark petiole and leaf spindle and a legally protected native plant species as referred to in the Flora and Fauna Act. The plant grows on walls, earth walls and along forest ditches. This is one of many rare plant species found in the park.
This Hague-Indian villa reminds us of the philanthropic family that supported women's rights and peace campaigner Aletta Jacobs. Mien van Wulfften accompanied her in an informal diplomatic mission for mediation in the First World War.
The green lung of the Hague, located between the city center and Scheveningen is a special green area with many aspects:
park-like with a world-class rosarium, open water and monuments, but also groves with small paths where you can still get lost.
The Greek-mythological representation of the "fall of Icarus", a crashing angel with burnt wings. The mythological figure of Icarus symbolizes the 54 secret agents who were dropped over the Netherlands and arrested by the occupying forces.
Englandspiel
1942 - 1944
which commemorates all Dutch citizens and military personnel who fell victim to the Japanese occupation of the former Dutch Indies during World War II. They died in battle, in the camps or during forced labour.
established in memory of approximately 161 soldiers who fell in the period 1945-1950 during the battle in the former Dutch East Indies. Monuments related to the former Dutch Indies, have become subject to a public controversy over alleged war crimes in the Dutch colonial past. Within INMP, Japanese, Korean and Chinese museums show positive examples of shared commemoration and reconciliation in South-East Asia.
Jan Eijkelboom
(text on the Indië monument, translated)
The suite of Bertha von Suttner in the Kurhaus remains a source of inspiration for peace activists and committed diplomats, reflecting over a century of hopes, disappointments and new initiatives for peace and international justice.
Bertha von Suttner
(Nobel Peace Prize 1905)
(c) Anna Banasiak
Scheveningen is the district that distinguishes The Hague in the most special way from all other large cities in the Netherlands: the coast. A kilometer-long beach with a boulevard and beautiful dunes as a backyard.
A haven of peace to visitors, as well as to the wildlife in them. The dunes are of paramount importance to the conservation of
wildlife, the collection of drinking water and coastal defence.
All images used in this part of the Peace and Nature Highlights were either made by R. Verhoeff, used with permission by the creator or distributed under the Creative Commons license.
Erasmus Statue - © Loek van Vlerken / Hildo Krop Museum, Steenwijk
Asplenium trichomanes - Piet Bremer (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 NL)
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 our Wageningen Peace and Nature Trail as well!