Reunification Palace
The Reunification Palace ( Vietnamese Hội trường Thống Nhất ), 1955 to 1975 Independence Palace ( Vietnamese Dinh Độc Lập ), is a landmark in Ho Chi Minh City in the state of Vietnam . The building was built on the site of the former Norodom Palace. Designed by the architect Ngo Viet Thu , it was the residence and workplace of the President of South Vietnam during the Vietnam War . The palace was the place where the end of the Vietnam War was sealed. This happened after the fall of Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) on April 30, 1975, when a tank of the Vietnamese People's Army broke through the gates.
French colonial times
In 1858, France launched an attack on Da Nang , which marked the beginning of the French invasion of Vietnam . In 1867 France ended the conquest of South Vietnam ( Cochinchina ), which consisted of the provinces of Biên Hoà , Gia Định , Định Tường , Vĩnh Long , An Giang , and Hà Tiên . To consolidate the new colony , the governor of Cochinchina, Lagrandière, held a ceremony on February 23, 1868 to lay the foundation stone for a new palace. This should replace the old wooden palace built in 1863. The building was designed by Maître Hermite , who was also the architect of the Hong Kong City Hall . The first cube-shaped stone, measuring 50 cm along each edge, had indentations that contained French gold and silver coins. These formed the statue of Napoleon III. and came from Biên Hòa .
The complex extended over an area of 12 hectares. It includes a palace with an 80-meter-wide facade, a guest wing for 800 people and an extensive garden covered with lawn and green trees. Most of the materials were imported from France. Due to the Franco-Prussian War , construction progress fell behind schedule, so that the building could not be completed until 1873. Like the street in front of it, the palace was named after the then King of Cambodia , Norodom. In the years 1871–1887, the French governors of Cochinchina used the palace, which is why it was nicknamed the Governor's Palace. In the following years until 1945 the governor maintained his residence in the palace for the entire colony of French Indochina . The seat of the governor of Cochinchina was moved to a nearby villa.
Second World War
On March 9, 1945, the Japanese Empire defeated France in French Indochina and replaced it in a successful coup . The Norodom Palace became the seat of the Japanese colonial officials . On September 2, 1945, the treaty for the Japanese surrender on the USS Missouri was signed. This restored France's previous position in Vietnam, with the Norodom Palace again becoming the seat of administration.
post war period
On May 7, 1954, the French forces in Indochina capitulated to the Viet Minh after they had won a decisive victory in the Battle of Điện Biên Phủ . This marked the end of the First Indochina War . As a result of the surrender, France signed the Indochina Treaties and withdrew troops from Indochina. In these it was decided that Vietnam should be divided along the 17th parallel for two years until 1956. Then all-Vietnamese elections should be held. North Vietnam was controlled by the communist Viet Minh, while the south was ruled by anti-communists. On September 7, 1954, the Norodom Palace was handed over to the South Vietnamese Prime Minister Ngô Đình Diệm by the French representative General Paul Ély .
In 1955 Diêm defeated the former emperor and then head of state Bảo Đại in a manipulated referendum. Ngô Đình Diệm declared himself President of the newly proclaimed Republic of Vietnam and had the building renamed the Independence Palace. According to Feng Shui , the palace stands at the head of the dragon, which is why it was also called the palace of the dragon's head.
Vietnam War
On February 27, 1962, two South Vietnamese Air Force pilots , Nguyễn Văn Cử and Phạm Phu Quốc, who flew two A-1 Skyraiders to the palace and bombed it instead of attacking the Viet Cong, rebelled. Almost the entire left wing was destroyed. Nevertheless, Diem and his family survived the attack . Since it was almost impossible to restore the building to its old state, Diem had it demolished and commissioned a new residence. The plans for the new palace came from Ngô Viết Thụ , who won the Prix de Rome in 1955.
Construction of the new Independence Palace began on July 1, 1962. Meanwhile, Diem and his family moved to the Gia Long Palace (= today's Ho Chi Minh City Museum). However, Diem was never able to inspect the finished hall, as he and his brother and chief adviser Ngo Dinh Nhu were killed in a coup led by General Duong Van Minh in November 1963.
The completed hall was inaugurated by the chairman of the national leadership committee, General Nguyễn Văn Thiệu , who was also head of a military tribunal at the time . The Independence Hall served as Thieu's residence and workplace from October 1967. When the communist forces swung south as part of the spring offensive in the decisive Ho Chi Minh campaign, Thieu left the country on April 21, 1975.
On April 8, 1975, Nguyen Thanh Trung, a pilot in the South Vietnamese Air Force and undiscovered Communist spy, flew an air strike from Bien Hoa air base in an F-5E , but caused no significant damage. At 10:45 am on April 30, 1975, a North Vietnamese tank broke through the palace gates. This marked the end of the Vietnam War .
In November 1975 the palace was renamed the Reunification Palace by the provisional revolutionary government of South Vietnam after negotiations between North and South Vietnam were completed.
The presidential office
The old war room under the palace
The roof of the palace
The banquet hall inside the palace
Web links
- Official website
- Dinh Doc Lap - Independence Palace ( Memento of September 27, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- Article on the Reunification Palace, The New York Times Magazine , January 12, 2003
Coordinates: 10 ° 46 ′ 37 " N , 106 ° 41 ′ 43" E