Great People's Study Hall

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Great People's Study Hall
Great People's Study Hall
Korean alphabet : 인민대 학습 당
Hanja : 人民 大 學習 堂
Revised Romanization : Inmin Daehak Seupdang
McCune-Reischauer : Inmin Taehak Sǔpdang

The Great People's Study Hall (also known as the Great People's Study Palace ) is the central library in North Korea's capital, Pyongyang . It is located on Namsan Hill in Kim-Il-sung Square , on the bank of Taedong-gang .

architecture

The monumental building was designed on the occasion of the 70th birthday of the leader Kim Il-sung in 1981 in the traditional Korean architectural style and built over a period of 21 months. It has 34 roofs. The building was opened on April 1, 1983.

600 rooms extend over ten floors and a total area of ​​100,000 square meters, including 15 reading rooms, 14 auditoriums, several offices, study rooms and service rooms. It offers space for around 30 million books and around 12,000 visitors a day. Publications from abroad are only accessible with special permission. A special feature is the automatic distribution system, with which books can be transported from the catalog room to the reader via a database.

meaning

Reading room

The Great Study Hall of the People is considered the center of the Chuch'e ideology . It serves as the national library and adult education center .

Pyongyang is said to be connected to a nationwide intranet , which mainly connects authorities and ministries. In the Great People's Study Hall, western visitors can watch students chatting over this intranet. The extent to which it can also be used for civil purposes is unknown.

The building is embossed as a motif on the 1 won coin and depicted on the back of the 5 won note from 1992.

Postage stamp from the GDR

In 1989, on the occasion of the 13th World Festival of Youth and Students in the GDR taking place in Pyongyang, a stamp was issued showing the study hall.

Web links

Commons : Great People's Study Hall  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Portal Jane: Art under control in North Korea. Reaction Books, London 2005, ISBN 1-86189-236-5 , p. 97.
  2. ^ Philipp Meuser (Ed.): Architectural Guide Pyongyang. Volume 1: Photos and Descriptions. DOM publishers, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-86922-126-7 , p. 72.
  3. ↑ One day: Zeitgeschichten on Spiegel-Online ( Memento from August 20, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ Grand People's Study House orientalarchitecture.com
  5. ^ Sue Lloyd-Roberts: Life inside the North Korean bubble , BBC, June 1, 2010, reviewed October 12, 2010

Coordinates: 39 ° 1 '12.6 "  N , 125 ° 44' 58.8"  E