Federal Palace of Switzerland

Federal Palace
(German) Bundeshaus
(French) Palais fédéral
(Italian) Palazzo federale
(Romansh) Chasa federala
(Latin) Curia Confœderationis Helveticæ

View from the Bundesplatz
General information
Town or city Bern
Country Switzerland
Completed 1 April 1902 (1902-04-01)
Design and construction
Architect Hans Auer
Federal Palace from the South, with the West and East wings

The Federal Palace (German: Bundeshaus, French: Palais fédéral, Italian: Palazzo federale, Romansh: Chasa federala, Latin: Curia Confœderationis Helveticæ) refers to the building in Bern housing the Swiss Federal Assembly (legislature) and the Federal Council (executive). It consists of a central assembly building and two wings (eastern and western) housing government departments and a library.

The two chambers where the National Council and the Council of States meet are separated by the Hall of the Dome. The dome itself has an external height of 64 m, and an internal height of 33 m. The mosaic in the center represents the Federal coat of arms along with the Latin motto Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno (One for all, and all for one), surrounded by the coat of arms of the 22 cantons that existed in 1902. The coat of arms of the Canton of Jura, created in 1979, was placed outside of the mosaic.

The name in German and Romansh both mean "federal house", whereas the French and Italian names both translate to "Federal Palace".

History

The building was designed by the architect Hans Auer and its inauguration took place on 1 April 1902. The total cost, at the time, was 7,198,000 Swiss Francs.

Organisation

Plan of the central part, with the National Council on the south (top) and the Council of States on the north (bottom).

Central part

West wing
East wing

Trivia

As president of the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland and therefore member of the so-called Elefantenrunde, the presidents of the five most important political parties in Switzerland, Ursula Koch participated at the first live stream broadcast from the Federal Palace (Bundeshaus) in late 1999.[3]

As reported in a study by the Federal parliamentary services (Parlamentsdienste), the noise caused by human activities in the chamber of the National Council is clearly too loud. The previously undisclosed study was published by 10vor10 on 12 December 2014, pointing that the noise level is usually at a level of about 70 decibels, comparable to a used roadway, so concentration of work for politicians is not possible.[4]

Photos

See also

References

  1. Visiting the Parliament Building, Federal Assembly (page visited on 11 September 2016).
  2. (French) "Dans les appartements des sept sages", Le temps, Sunday 12 May 2013 (page visited on 11 September 2016).
  3. "Das hatte die Technikwelt 1999 zu bieten" (in German). 20 Minuten. 2014-12-12. Retrieved 2014-12-12.
  4. "Lärmbelastung im Nationalrat deutlich zu hoch" (in German). 10vor10. 2014-12-12. Retrieved 2014-12-13.
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Coordinates: 46°56′48″N 7°26′39″E / 46.94667°N 7.44417°E / 46.94667; 7.44417

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