Extract from the minutes of the Conference on the establishment of a Council of Europe, held at St James’s Palace in London from 3 to 5 May 1949, concerning the issue of the organisation’s seat.

Special Agreement relating to the Seat of the Council of Europe, signed in Paris on 2 September 1949 between the Council of Europe and the Government of the French Republic.

Par lettre du 28 novembre 1949, Robert Schuman, ministre français des Affaires étrangères, annonce au Secrétaire général du Conseil de l'Europe que le gouvernement de la République française est prêt à appliquer l'Accord spécial relatif au siège à partir de cette date.

Ayant été autorisé par le Comité des ministres à procéder à l'échange de notes prévu par l'article 11 de l'Accord spécial relatif au siège, le Secrétaire général du Conseil de l'Europe accuse le 28 novembre 1949 la réception de la lettre du représentant du Gouvernement français et lui fait savoir que le Conseil de l'Europe est aussi, pour sa part, prêt à appliquer ledit Accord.

Paul-Henri Spaak, first President of the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe from 1949 to 1951, in front of the model of the Assembly.

Robert Schuman and Paul-Henri Spaak at the inauguration of the Maison de l’Europe in Strasbourg on 7 August 1950.

In this interview, Paul Collowald, then a journalist on the daily newspaper Le Nouvel Alsacien, describes the reaction of the people of Strasbourg to the establishment of the Council of Europe in their city, in particular the atmosphere among the people on 10 August 1949 on the occasion of the first sitting of the Consultative Assembly in the main lecture hall of the University.

Road sign for the seat of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France.

The ‘Maison de l'Europe' (House of Europe) in Strasbourg was the seat of the Council of Europe until 1977, before the Palais de l'Europe (Palace of Europe) was opened.

Photo of the Maison de l’Europe (left) and the new Palais de l’Europe (right), taken in October 1976 as building work was taking place inside the new building. The old building was demolished after the inauguration of the Palais de l’Europe in January 1977.

In his address, given on 28 January 1977 at the official opening ceremony of the new ‘Palais de l’Europe’ in Strasbourg, Georg Kahn-Ackermann, Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, recalls the circumstances at the time of its building and describes the building’s function as the ‘headquarters of the Council of Europe, particularly of [the] Organisation’s Assembly; but it will also play host to the Parliament of the European Communities when it sits in Strasbourg.’

At the official opening ceremony of the ‘Palais de l’Europe’ on 28 January 1977, following the city’s donation to the European institutions of the building land required, Pierre Pflimlin, Mayor of Strasbourg, speaks on behalf of the people of Strasbourg, welcoming the new building, which has been designed to meet the requirements not only of the Council of Europe but also of the European Parliament and represents a promise of unity in the future.

Designed by the French architect Henry Bernard, the building, opened in 1977 as the ‘Palais de l’Europe’, houses the conference rooms and offices of the Council of Europe as well as the Debating Chamber of the Parliamentary Assembly.

On 12 May 2004, Fabienne Keller, Mayor of Strasbourg, lays the foundation stone of the new general building (NBGEN) of the Council of Europe, at the edge of the Robertsau district in Strasbourg.

In 1966, Pierre Pflimlin, President of the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe, lays the foundation stone of the ‘Palais des Droits de l'Homme’ in Strasbourg, the building destined to house the European Commission and Court of Human Rights. To his right, Eugène Schaus, President of the Committee of Ministers. To his left, Ludovico Benvenuti, outgoing Secretary-General of the Council of Europe.

View of the Human Rights Building on the banks of the River Ill, Strasbourg. The building, designed by the British architect, Richard Rogers, was inaugurated in 1995 to house the European Court of Human Rights.

The front of the Human Rights Building, seat of the European Court of Human Rights, was designed to resemble the scales of justice.

Since 1972, the building of the European Youth Centre, located near the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, has been host to European youth organisations for study sessions, seminars, traineeships and conferences.