Palace of Nations, Geneva (must see)

The League of Nations, predecessor of the United Nations, first established itself in the old Hotel National building (later called Wilson Palace) on the shores of Lake Geneva in the early 1920s. In 1926 a competition was held for the construction designs of the Palace of Nations, future home of the League.

Five architects were chosen: Julien Flegenheimer of Switzerland, Camile Lefevre and Henri-Paul Nenot of France, Carlo Broggi of Italy and Jozsef Vago of Hungary. The library, in a separate wing, was funded later by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. A place for the Palace of Nations was found in the 114-acre Ariana Park.

The palace is a Modernist stone combination of Art Deco and Rationalism, with a soupçon of Bauhaus. The foundation stone was laid in 1929. Underneath the stone, a time capsule contains a list of members, a copy of the League Covenant, and coins.

On the south side of the Palace of Nations, four rows of the flags of 190 nations extend from the gate to the building. The 40-foot high Broken Chair sculpture in front of the palace, makes visitors mindful of the dangers of land mines scattered throughout the world.

The massive "Celestial Sphere" of steel and bronze before the palace mirrors the heavens, as seen from the earth. Created by American sculptor Paul Howard Manship in 1938, the sphere has witnessed the fall of the League of Nations and the birth of the United Nations. Hope lives on.