About the Project
The second Garden of Peace was opened near the village of Vouziers in the Ardennes, on the 100th anniversary of Veterans Day in France and the 104th anniversary of the end of the First World War.
It symbolically commemorates Czech and Slovak soldiers who fought alongside the armed forces of the Allied Powers. We supported the creation of this new memorial site with a contribution of 40,000 euros.
The form of the Garden of Peace is defined by a path set into a trench, surrounded by a grove of 282 birch trees.
The number of trees and their pale trunks and branches evoke the feeling of walking through a fog, which recalls the conditions soldiers once faced on this battlefield, obscured by mist or blinded by poison gas. Gradually, the birches disappear, giving way to linden trees — the national symbol of both Czechs and Slovaks.
The memorial space was designed by the Bratislava‑based studio SLLA and Ateliér Divo from Brno. The intention was to create a welcoming place from which each visitor would take away their own unique, deeply personal impression.
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