Quai d'Orsay — The Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs at 37 Quai d'Orsay in Paris is the seat of French diplomacy where pivotal 20th-century treaties and the foundation of the European Union were negotiated. Architect Lacornée began constructing the building in 1845 under Foreign Minister François Guizot. Inside, the Salon de l'Horloge hosted the 1919 Allied peace negotiations with 70 delegates from 27 nations and Robert Schuman's 1950 declaration establishing the European Coal and Steel Community.

Paris · from the walk “From the Cathedral to the Iron Lady” · audio ~3 min · Generated

Ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires étrangères, 37 quai d'Orsay, Paris

What historic events took place in the Salon de l'Horloge at the Quai d'Orsay?

Take a look at this elegant facade across the river... the building at number thirty-seven Quai d'Orsay. In the world of diplomacy, saying "the Quai d'Orsay" is like saying "the White House" or "the Kremlin." The term has become a metonym for the entire French foreign ministry. But here's what most people never stop to ask... who was this mysterious d'Orsay?......... The name belongs to Charles the Third, Boucher d'Orsay, born in sixteen forty-one, a French magistrate who served as the Provost of the Merchants of Paris from seventeen hundred to seventeen oh eight. Think of him as the medieval equivalent of a mayor. The area along the Seine had remained at risk for fires, and so in seventeen oh eight, Boucher d'Orsay decided to construct the embankment... the quai... which still bears his name three centuries later.......... Now, this ministry building itself has quite a story. At the request of Foreign Minister François Guizot, the building's design was entrusted to the architect Lacornée. The first stone was laid on the twenty-ninth of November, eighteen forty-five. But then... revolution! Briefly held up by the eighteen forty-eight revolution, building works resumed at the request of Emperor Napoléon the Third. The whole thing took over a decade to complete.......... But the Real magic happened inside, in a room called the Salon de l'Horloge... the Clock Room. This single room changed the course of the twentieth century... Twice. On the eighteenth of January, nineteen nineteen, talks between the Allies to establish a common negotiating position started right here, in the Salle de l'Horloge. Initially, seventy delegates from twenty-seven nations participated. Although it is often referred to as the Versailles Conference, most of the negotiations actually took place Here, at the Quai d'Orsay, not at the palace. The signing was at Versailles... but the arguments, the deals, the arm-twisting? All happened behind these walls.......... And then, just thirty-one years later... On May ninth, nineteen fifty, at six in the evening, Robert Schuman proposed the creation of a European Coal and Steel Community, speaking to a few journalists right here in the Salon de l'Horloge. The speech that Launched the European Union as we know it. And here's the incredible detail... since the press had been informed last-minute, no photographer initially covered the declaration and nor were any radio or television reporters present. He was forced to record his declaration a second time for posterity. The most important speech in European history... and they had to do a Retake.......... This declaration is now celebrated on May ninth, which became Europe Day. One room. Two moments that shaped the modern world. That is the power of the Quai d'Orsay.