{"id":145415,"date":"2022-10-26T16:24:03","date_gmt":"2022-10-26T14:24:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=145415"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:26:28","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:26:28","slug":"noordeinde-palace-fifty-years-later-my-time-here-determined-the-course-of-my-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2022\/10\/26\/noordeinde-palace-fifty-years-later-my-time-here-determined-the-course-of-my-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Noordeinde Palace, fifty years later: ‘My time here determined the course of my life’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Six alumni pay a visit to Noordeinde Palace, fifty years after their graduation. As part of the 70th jubilee celebrations of the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), they were given a guided tour of the palace where, as students, they had studied and lived until graduating in 1972. \u201cWe had so much fun here!\u201d<\/p>\n

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The alumni and their partners in Noordeinde Palace.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFeba Sukmana<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

At ten o\u2019clock on the dot, Carlos Scornik, Roberto Rodriguez, Esperanza Vargas, Maritza Montiel, Stella Vasquez, Sylvia Saborio and their partners are standing in front of Noordeinde Palace. All six alumni have no objections to waiting ten minutes in the rain while their passports are checked. \u201cFrom outside, the palace still looks just the same!\u201d says Sylvia, sounding happy. Roberto nods. \u201cWe often played a round of volleyball here in the front yard\u201d, he says.<\/p>\n

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The six don't mind the wait. From left to right: Maritza Montiel, Sylvia Saborio, Stella Vasquez, Esperanza Vargas, Carlos Scornik and Roberto Rodriguez<\/span><\/p>

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Guided tour<\/h2>

When the Institute was created in 1952, the ISS was accommodated in Noordeinde Palace. \u201cAfter the war, the authorities didn\u2019t feel it was right to provide money for refurbishment, so the State decided to use the premises for educating and housing international students\u201d, recounts junior curator Sebastiaan van Venetien, who is providing the guided tour. This arrangement continued until 1977, when the building was indeed refurbished. Since then, it has been in use as a working palace where official receptions are held. In addition, the rooms are used as offices by staff of the Royal Household.<\/p>\n

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Sebastiaan van Venetien (right) guides the alumni through the palace.<\/span><\/p>

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The guided tour starts on the first floor. The alumni can hardly believe their eyes when they enter the large Ballroom. The yellow stucco marble wall is a perfect match for the golden chandeliers hanging from the high white ceiling. Panels on the wall depict white lions, while the cream-coloured carpet is accentuated with little red and golden flowers. \u201cWhat a beautiful room this has turned into!\u201d, says Sylvia. In her day, this was their common room \u2013 a space to hang out and socialise together. \u201cBack then, it was all brown: the wooden floor, the curtains, the chairs and the tables. The stucco marble wall was already there, but it certainly didn\u2019t gleam like it does now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Great memories <\/h2>

The alumni still retain clear images of the palace in their memories. \u201cBack then, the building was divided into three sections\u201d, Sylvia remembers. The jointly used rooms were in the middle. Places like the dining room, the common room and a party room. The girls\u2019 rooms were in the right wing, and the boys\u2019 rooms in the left wing. \u201cOf course, you weren\u2019t allowed to cross over to the other wing, but you don\u2019t want to know all the things that went on in the evenings!\u201d, Sylvia says with a wink.<\/p>\n\n\t

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Een lijst van afbeeldingen<\/h2>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t
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