Speakers' Corner
Speakers' Corner is a meeting place at the northeast end of Hyde Park in London in the immediate vicinity of Marble Arch . By a parliamentary resolution of June 27, 1872 (Royal Parks and Gardens Regulation Act) , anyone can hold a lecture on any topic without registration and thus gather people passing by. Signs indicate, however, that the British Queen and the Royal Family may not be the subject of a speech.
Typically, the speakers stand on a box they have brought with them in order to be able to speak at a slightly elevated level, from which the term soapboxing is derived. The boxes are increasingly being replaced by small step ladders.
Although the majority of the regular speakers are quirky, Speakers' Corner also saw celebrities like Karl Marx , Lenin, and George Orwell . In the election campaign you can sometimes see representatives of the major parties there .
On March 18, 1945, three people died when Speakers' Corner was hit by a " V2 " rocket.
Web links
- Hyde Park Union - Documentary about Speakers Corner by Claudia Hempel and Nils Werner (film excerpt, English)
Remarks
- ↑ “At 9:30 in the morning a V-2 rocket hits Hyde Park in London and destroys the famous Speaker's Corner, where the British have traditionally been allowed to give political speeches since 1827, which may contain anything but criticism of the royal family. Three people are killed, nine seriously injured. ” See“ 18. March 1945 “of the daily chronicle of the Second World War @ welt.de; See also Alec Gladd: Speakers' Corner, Marble Arch. @ westendatwar.org.uk, accessed March 20, 2015
Coordinates: 51 ° 30 ′ 44 ″ N , 0 ° 9 ′ 31 ″ W.