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65-465: The Swiss National Library is intended to be open to all and, by the breadth and scope of its collection, aims to reflect the plurality and diversity of Swiss culture. It is a heritage site of national significance . On June 28, 1894, an Act of Council created the library with the responsibility of collecting "Helvetica": all publications relating to the Swiss and Switzerland. In 1899, the library opened to

130-609: A State Party is not entitled to ignore the Convention's rules by reason of another Party's failure to implement safeguarding measures alone. This is set out in Article 4 of the Hague Convention: Article 4: (1) The High Contracting Parties undertake to respect cultural property situated within their own territory as well as within the territory of other High Contracting Parties by refraining from any use of

195-422: A contractual obligation in the area of cultural property protection. Nevertheless, with the establishment of a protective label and the administration of lists of cultural assets worthy of protection by a central international institution, this treaty introduced two important far-reaching principles in the area of the protection of cultural assets in armed conflicts that remain important today. Only four years after

260-600: A damage to the cultural heritage of all humanity, because every people contributes to the world's culture ... As of July 2021 , 133 states are party to the treaty and there are 110 States Parties to the First Protocol, while the Second Protocol has 84 States Parties. For the purposes of the present Convention, the term 'cultural property' shall cover, irrespective of origin or ownership: (a) movable or immovable property of great importance to

325-739: A few years later, signed or ratified the treaty. Even though it remains valid in relations between the parties and the Organization of American States (OAS) and continues to act as a depositary in succession to the Pan-American Union, the Roerich Pact remained without significant practical relevance. As the USA is not party to the 1999 Second Protocol of the Hague Convention, the Roerich Pact is therefore still of importance as

390-546: A proposal to UNESCO , which had been founded three years earlier. In 1951, the General Conference of UNESCO decided to set up a committee of governmental experts to draft a new convention. A year later, this committee submitted a draft to the General Conference, which forwarded it to the national governments for further discussion. From 21 April to 14 May 1954, an international conference was held in The Hague with

455-739: A result, following the signature of the Roerich Pact by the American States in 1935, attempts were undertaken to draft a more comprehensive convention for the protection of monuments and works of art in time of war. In 1939, a draft convention, elaborated under the auspices of the International Museums Office, was presented to governments by the Netherlands. Due to the onset of the Second World War

520-494: A waiver. (3) The High Contracting Parties further undertake to prohibit, prevent and, if necessary, put a stop to any form of theft, pillage or misappropriation of, and any acts of vandalism directed against, cultural property. They shall, refrain from requisitioning movable cultural property situated in the territory of another High Contracting Party. (4) They shall refrain from any act directed by way of reprisals against cultural property. (5) No High Contracting Party may evade

585-896: Is a register of cultural property in Switzerland . It was established according to article 5 of the second protocol to the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict , which provides for the establishment of national registers of cultural property. The register contains both mobile and immobile items of cultural property including old towns, quarters, squares, villages, sacral buildings, houses, castles, bridges, monuments, archaeological sites and collections. Its entries are classified in two groups: those of national significance (class A) and those of regional significance (class B). The selection

650-399: Is active in the field of international coordination with regard to military and civil structures for the protection of cultural assets. The guiding principles of the Convention and the motivation for its conclusion, dissemination and respect are summarised in the preamble, which states, among other things: ... that any damage to cultural property, irrespective of the people it belongs to, is

715-478: Is based on the significance of the items in the domains of history , aesthetics , art , typology , ethnography , social studies and in other scientific disciplines, as well as on their rarity value. Items of purely local significance are not included; these may be registered separately by the cantonal authorities. The register is prepared by the Federal Office of Civil Protection in cooperation with

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780-505: Is called upon to mark appropriate buildings. Article 56 also contained a general ban on the confiscation, destruction or damage of such facilities. However, during the First World War , acceptance of these first Hague Conventions was severely restricted by the so-called all-participation clause. It stated that, in the event of war or armed conflict, this Agreement should apply only if all States involved in that conflict are parties to

845-444: Is the manifestation and expression of the cultural heritage of a group of people or a society. It is an expression of the ways of living developed by a community and passed on from generation to generation, including the customs of a people, their practices, places, objects, artistic endeavours and values. The protection of cultural property during times of armed conflict or occupation is of great importance, because such property reflects

910-699: The Pan-American Union subsequently presented a treaty "on the protection of artistic and scientific institutions and historical monuments", which was signed on 15 April 1935 in the White House by 21 states in North, Central and South America. Ten of the signatory states also became parties by ratification, the first of which was the United States on 13 July 1935 and the last of which was Colombia on 20 February 1937. The agreement, also known as

975-549: The Roerich Pact after its initiator, entered into force on 26 August 1935. The Roerich Pact contained eight articles and several significant innovations compared with the general provisions of Articles 27 and 56 of the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907. On the one hand, the treaty established the status of neutrality for historical monuments, museums, scientific and artistic institutions as well as educational and cultural institutions. This legal position, comparable to

1040-650: The Third Reich , confiscated close to 20% of all Western European art during the war. By the end of the Second World War , the Nazi party had looted and collected thousands of objects, art works and artefacts from occupied nations, destroyed many, or stored them in secret. With artists depicting the hardship of the German people after World War I, and further expressing the fear of anti-Semitism and fascism ,

1105-773: The University of Paris drew up a corresponding draft in 1929. This proposal was subsequently discussed by the International Museum Office of the League of Nations and at private conferences in Bruges in 1931 and 1932 and in Washington, D.C. in 1933. The seventh international conference of American states, which took place in Buenos Aires in 1933, recommended the adoption of the draft. The Board of

1170-439: The 1954 Convention were supplemented and clarified by two protocols concluded in 1954 and 1999. All three agreements are part of International humanitarian law , which, in the form of further agreements, primarily includes provisions defining the permissible means and methods of warfare and aiming at the widest possible protection of persons not involved in the fighting. In contrast to these parts of International Humanitarian Law ,

1235-427: The 1954 Hague Convention requires States not to make any cultural property the object of attack except for cases of 'military necessity', the Second Protocol stipulates that cultural property under enhanced protection must not be made a military target, even if it has (by its use) become a ' military objective '. An attack against cultural property which enjoys enhanced protection status is only excusable if such an attack

1300-542: The 300th anniversary of the city of Saint Petersburg. With the conclusion of the Second World War and the subsequent defeat of the Axis Powers , the atrocities which the Nazi leadership condoned, leading to the removal of culturally significant items and the destruction of numerous others could not be allowed to occur in future generations. This led the victorious Allied forces to create provisions to ensure safeguards for culturally significant items in times of war. As

1365-497: The Amber Room was destroyed between 9 and 11 April 1945' during the battle to take the city. However, in the absence of definitive proof, other theories about its fate continue to be entertained to the present day. With financial assistance from German donors, Russian craftsmen reconstructed a new Amber Room during the 1990s. The new room was dedicated by Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder at

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1430-726: The Claude Kuhn Archive, which features over 350 posters created by the Bernese artist. In 1901, the library published the first volume of the Swiss Book , the national bibliography of Switzerland. Editions are published each year. In 1928, the Swiss Union Catalog was formed to create a central catalog for all Swiss libraries. In 1979, the National Library took over the catalog's management from

1495-596: The Convention and the further Acts, took place at The Hague from 21 April to 14 May 1954 where 56 States were represented. Following this international agreement The Hague Convention For the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict would come into force in 1956 in order to be an instrument of non derogation for the states bound by the document to stop the looting and destruction of cultural property. The Hague Convention outlines various prohibitions and obligations which States Parties are expected to observe, both in peacetime and in times of conflict. Broadly,

1560-656: The Convention. The Russian lawyer, painter and writer Nicholas Roerich , who witnessed the destruction of cultural assets in Russia during the First World War and the October Revolution , initiated the development of an independent treaty at the beginning of the 1930s to protect cultural assets during armed conflicts. On his initiative, Georges Chklaver of the Institute for Higher International Studies at

1625-485: The Conventions dealing with respect for cultural property. The Hague Convention establishes a 'special protection' regime, which obliges States Parties to ensure the immunity of cultural property under special protection from acts of hostility (Articles 8 and 9). Under Article 8, this protection may be granted to one of three categories of cultural property: (1) refuges intended to shelter movable cultural property in

1690-560: The Hague Convention and its First Protocol. One of the most important features of the Second Protocol is the 'enhanced protection' regime it establishes. This new category of cultural property is outlined in Chapter Three of the Second Protocol. Enhanced protection status means that the relevant cultural property must remain immune from military attack, once it is inscribed on the List of Cultural Property Under Enhanced Protection. While

1755-466: The Hague Convention requires that States Parties adopt protection measures during peacetime for the safeguarding of cultural property. Such measures include the preparation of inventories, preparation for the removal of movable cultural property and the designation of competent authorities responsible for the safeguarding of cultural property. States Parties undertake to respect cultural property , not only located within their own territory, but also within

1820-403: The Hague Convention, on 14 May 1954. It specifically applies to movable cultural property only, and prohibits the export of movable property from occupied territory and also requires its return to its original territory at the conclusion of hostilities (Article 1). States Parties under the obligation to prevent the export of such property may be required to pay an indemnity to States whose property

1885-454: The Nazi ideology, or posed a threat to it, were stamped as degenerate art . Degenerate works of art, culminating in the infamous exhibition with the same name, were those whose subject, artist, or art was either Jewish or expressed Anti-Nazi sentiments, and was as such offensive to the Third Reich . Jewish collections were looted the most throughout the war. German Jews were ordered to report their personal assets, which were then privatized by

1950-473: The Nazi party and Hitler himself soon realised the dangerous power of art, and began to clamp down on artistic production and forcing both artists and the public alike to adhere to a Nazi-approved style. Inherent within the Nazi's ideology was the idea of supremacy of the Aryan Race and all that it produced; as such the Nazi campaign's aims were to neutralize non-Germanic cultures and this was done through

2015-651: The Nazis had occupied the western portion of the Soviet Union, and began removing art treasures to the west. The entirety of the Amber Room was removed to Königsberg and reconstructed there. In January 1945, with the Russian army advancing on the city, the Amber Room was ordered to be moved again but its fate is thereafter unclear. A post-war Russian report concluded that 'summarizing all the facts, we can say that

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2080-467: The Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict The Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict is the first international treaty that focuses exclusively on the protection of cultural property in armed conflict. It was signed at The Hague , Netherlands , on 14 May 1954 and entered into force on 7 August 1956. As of July 2021 , it has been ratified by 133 states. The provisions of

2145-606: The Roerich Pact was signed, the government of the Netherlands presented a draft for a new convention, in the drafting of which the International Museum Office of the League of Nations was also significantly involved. However, the start of the Second World War in the same year prevented all further steps to develop and implement this proposal. After the end of the war, in 1948 the Netherlands again submitted

2210-710: The Swiss Librarians' Association. In 2010, with the advent of digital catalogs, the service closed. Since 1995, the library has housed the ISSN Centre Switzerland which assigns ISSNs to Swiss serial publications. In 1998, the Swiss Literary Archives were established as division of the National Library to collect literary estates and archives. In 2016, the Swiss National Sound Archives came under

2275-614: The United Nations played a major role in its creation and implementation. The Nazi Party headed by Adolf Hitler rose to power in Germany in 1933 after the country's crippling defeat, and its socioeconomic distress during the years following World War I . World War II was aimed at reclaiming the glory of the once great Germanic state. Cultural property of many European nations and significant ethnic and social groups within them fell victim to Nazi Germany. The Nazi party, through

2340-607: The agreements on the protection of cultural property were drawn up under the auspices of the United Nations (UN); the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is primarily responsible for the dissemination and monitoring of compliance. In addition to rules designed to ensure the protection and respect of cultural property during an armed conflict, these agreements also provide for security measures to be implemented in times of peace. Blue Shield International , based in The Hague,

2405-619: The cantonal authorities and formally issued by the Federal Council . It was first published in 1988 and re-issued in updated form in 1995 and 2009. The 2009 revision covers only A-class objects, with the B-class objects set to be reviewed and updated at a later time. Until then, the lists of B-class objects published by the Office include the B-class objects of the 1995 inventory, the proposals for new or changed B-class objects submitted by

2470-520: The cantonal authorities, and the former A-class objects not retained as nationally significant in the 2009 review. The Federal Office of Civil Protection has made the 2009 register of A-class objects (current as of 1 April 2010) available on the Internet as a geographic information system and as a set of PDF documents. A printed catalogue (publication no. 408.980) was published in 2010. Cited sources Further reading Hague Convention for

2535-567: The coalition forces (who were either party to the Convention or who, in the instance of the US, were not party to the Convention) accepted the Convention's rules, most notably by creating a "no-fire target list" of places where cultural property was known to exist. The obligation of States Parties to safeguard cultural property in peacetime is outlined in Article 3. It stipulates: 'The High Contracting Parties undertake to prepare in time of peace for

2600-502: The competent national authorities be unable to take such measures, the Occupying Power shall, as far as possible, and in close co-operation with such authorities, take the most necessary measures of preservation. (3) Any High Contracting Party whose government is considered their legitimate government by members of a resistance movement, shall, if possible, draw their attention to the obligation to comply with those provisions of

2665-569: The country. Jewish owned art galleries were forced to sell the works of art they housed. The Nazis concentrated their efforts on ensuring that all art within Germany would be Aryan in nature, speaking to the might of the Germanic state rather than Jewish art which was deemed as a blight on society. In a feat to "purge" German museums and collections, confiscation committees seized approximately 16,000 items within Germany. The remaining unexploited art

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2730-433: The cultural heritage of every people, such as monuments of architecture , art or history, whether religious or secular; archaeological sites; groups of buildings which, as a whole, are of historical or artistic interest; works of art; manuscripts , books and other objects of artistic, historical or archaeological interest; as well as scientific collections and important collections of books or archives or of reproductions of

2795-528: The destruction of culturally significant art and artefacts. This is illustrated greatest in the Jewish communities throughout Europe; by devising a series of laws that allowed them to justify and regulate the legal confiscation of cultural and personal property. Within Germany the looting of German Jewish cultural property began with the confiscation of non-Germanic artwork in the German state collection. Further, artists that were Jewish and artworks that did not match

2860-435: The draft convention was shelved with no further steps being taken. With the conclusion of the war, a new proposal was submitted to UNESCO by the Netherlands in 1948. The General Conference of UNESCO in 1951 decided to convene a committee of government experts to draft a convention. This committee met in 1952 and thereafter submitted its drafts to the General Conference. The intergovernmental Conference, which drew up and adopted

2925-906: The entire output of Swiss publishers in all languages and adds almost 15,000 new publications in a given year. There is no legal deposit law in place but rather an agreement with Swiss publishers. As of 2020, the library held 4.8 million publications. Special collections that are housed at the National Library include the Lüthi Bible Collection, musical estates, the Archives of the New Helvetic Society and many more collections on topics including library science, press and radio, politics, sports, science and genealogy. The National Library has an extensive poster collection as part of its Prints and Drawings department that covers Swiss poster production. The poster collection includes

2990-400: The event of armed conflict; (2) centers containing monuments; and (3) other immovable cultural property of very great importance. To receive special protection, cultural property must also be located an adequate distance from an industrial center or location which would render it vulnerable to attack, and must not be used for military purposes. The First Protocol was adopted at the same time as

3055-521: The featured literature. The journal is published once or twice each year. Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance The Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance ( German : Schweizerisches Inventar der Kulturgüter von nationaler und regionaler Bedeutung ; French : Inventaire suisse des biens culturels d'importance nationale et régionale ; Italian : Inventario dei beni culturali svizzeri d'importanza nazionale e regionale )

3120-538: The library building was renovated to modernize and extend it. In 2000, the Centre Dürrenmatt Neuchâtel , a museum of Friedrich Dürrenmatt 's works, opened as a unit of the library in Neuchâtel . The Swiss National Library collection includes an extensive collection of books, newspapers, maps and atlases, official publications and printed music. The National Library's book collection contains

3185-616: The life, history and identity of communities; its preservation helps to rebuild communities, re-establish identities, and link people's past with their present and future. The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 preceded the Hague Convention of 1954. The multilateral agreement of 1899 and the slightly amended later version of 1907 contained in Article 27 the commandment for the attacking party to spare historical monuments, educational institutions and institutions of religious, not-for-profit, artistic or scientific significance as far as possible during sieges and bombardments. The party under attack

3250-422: The marking of cultural objects, consisting of three red dots in a red circle on a white background. Nicholas Roerich , who designed it with early symbolism in mind, described the significance of the three points as a symbol of art, science and religion as the three most important cultural activities of humanity, with the circle as the element that linked these three aspects in the past, present and future. The symbol

3315-467: The neutrality of medical personnel and comparable institutions during a war, resulted in respect for these goods by all parties involved in a conflict and thus their protection. The Parties should send lists of monuments and sites for which they claimed protection under the Treaty to the Pan-American Union, which should forward them to all States Parties. In addition, the Treaty defined a protection mark for

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3380-422: The obligations incumbent upon it under the present Article, in respect of another High Contracting Party, by reason of the fact that the latter has not applied the measures of safeguard referred to in Article 3.' The rules set out in the Hague Convention also apply to States who are Occupying Powers of territory during conflict or otherwise. The Convention obliges Occupying Powers to respect the cultural property of

3445-592: The occupied territory, and to support local national authorities in its preservation and repair when necessary. This obligation is articulated in Article 5: Article 5: (1) Any High Contracting Party in occupation of the whole or part of the territory of another High Contracting Party shall as far as possible support the competent national authorities of the occupied country in safeguarding and preserving its cultural property. (2) Should it prove necessary to take measures to preserve cultural property situated in occupied territory and damaged by military operations, and should

3510-486: The organization of the library. In 2011, the library created Swiss Press Online, an online archive of digitized Swiss newspapers in its collection. This was upgraded in 2018 to the successor service e-newspaperarchives.ch . Quarto is the journal of the Swiss National Library and focuses on a different one of Switzerland's four literatures (German, French, Italian and Romansh ) with texts and essays on

3575-529: The participation of 56 states, which drew up a final version and adopted it as the "Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict". The agreement entered into force on 7 August 1956. After the 1948 Genocide Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, this was the second important agreement in the field of international humanitarian law to which

3640-416: The property and its immediate surroundings or of the appliances in use for its protection for purposes which are likely to expose it to destruction or damage in the event of armed conflict; and by refraining from any act of hostility directed against such property. (2) The obligations mentioned in paragraph I of the present Article may be waived only in cases where military necessity imperatively requires such

3705-521: The property defined above; (b) buildings whose main and effective purpose is to preserve or exhibit the movable cultural property defined in sub-paragraph (a) such as museums, large libraries and depositories of archives, and refuges intended to shelter, in the event of armed conflict, the movable cultural property defined in sub-paragraph (a); (c) centers containing a large amount of cultural property as defined in sub-paragraphs (a) and (b), to be known as 'centers containing monuments'. Cultural property

3770-455: The protection of cultural property. Furthermore, States Parties are required to implement criminal sanctions for breaches of the Convention, and to undertake promotion of the Convention to the general public, cultural heritage professionals, the military and law-enforcement agencies. An example of the successful implementation of the Hague Convention was the Gulf War , in which many members of

3835-408: The provisions of the Hague Convention, by including developments in international humanitarian law and cultural property protection which had emerged since 1954. It builds on the provisions contained in the Convention relating to the safeguarding of and respect for cultural property, as well as the conduct of hostilities; thereby providing greater protection for cultural property than that conferred by

3900-719: The public in the Federal Archives building. In 1931, the library moved to a newly-constructed building on Hallwylstrasse. The building was designed in the Modernist style of New Objectivity and is a listed historic monument. In 1991, a plan was made to construct underground stacks and modernize the building. The first underground stack opened in 1997 and holds books, literary archives, and special collections. The second underground stack opened in 2009 and holds newspapers and periodicals. The library expects it will have reserve storage capacity until 2038. Between 1994 and 2001,

3965-611: The safeguarding of cultural property situated within their own territory against the foreseeable effects of an armed conflict, by taking such measures, as they consider appropriate.' The Hague Convention sets out a minimum level of respect which all States Parties must observe, both in relation to their own national heritage as well as the heritage of other States Parties. States are obliged not to attack cultural property, nor to remove or misappropriate movable property from its territory of origin. Only exceptional cases of 'military necessity' will excuse derogation from this obligation. However,

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4030-496: The territory of other States Parties, during times of conflict and occupation. In doing so, they agree to refrain from using cultural property and its immediate surroundings for purposes likely to expose it to destruction or damage in the event of armed conflict. States Parties also agree to refrain from any act of hostility directed against such property. The Convention also requires the establishment of special units within national military forces, to be charged with responsibility for

4095-525: Was also called the " Banner of Peace ", the movement based on the Roerich Pact under the name Pax Cultura in analogy to the Geneva Conventions as the "Red Cross of Culture". However, the acceptance of the Roerich Pact was limited to the United States and the countries of Central and South America. Not a single country in Europe and Asia, the geopolitical focus of the Second World War that began

4160-525: Was destroyed in massive bonfires. As the war progressed, the Nazi party elite ordered the confiscation of cultural property throughout various European countries. In the Soviet Union , Nazi plunder of cultural significant art is best illustrated in the Third Reich's pillage of the Catherine Palace near St Petersburg and its famous Amber Room dating to the early 1700s. In October 1941,

4225-553: Was removed during hostilities. Criminal acts committed against cultural property in the late 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s highlighted the deficiencies in the implementation of the Hague Convention and its First Protocol. As a result of the 'Boylan review' (a review of the Convention led by Professor Patrick Boylan ), the Second Protocol to the Hague Convention was adopted at a diplomatic conference held at The Hague in March 1999. The Second Protocol seeks complement and expand upon

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