Ghent International Exposition (1913)

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EXPO Ghent 1913
250px
Poster for the exhibition
Overview
BIE-class Universal exposition
Category Historical Expo
Name Exposition Universelle et Internationale de Gand 1913
Building Gent-Sint-Pieters railway station
Area 130 hectares (320 acres)
Organized by Émile Coppieters[1]
Participant(s)
Countries 31
Location
Country Belgium
City Ghent
Venue Citadelpark
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Timeline
Opening 26 April 1913 (1913-04-26)
Closure 3 November 1913 (1913-11-03)
Universal expositions
Previous Esposizione internationale d'industria e de labora in Turin
Next Panama–Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco
Internet
Website www.expo1913.be

The Ghent International Exposition of 1913 (Dutch: Wereldtentoonstelling van 1913 Gent, French: Exposition universelle et internationale de 1913 Gand) was a world's fair held in Ghent, Belgium, from 26 April to 3 November 1913.[2]

History

A number of buildings were completed for the occasion. Notably, Gent-Sint-Pieters railway station was completed in 1912 in time for the exposition,[3] and was situated opposite the new hotel, Flandria Palace.[4] A park, Citadelpark, was redesigned for the fair. The exposition was held on an area of 130 hectares (320 acres), which was larger than Expo 58 in Brussels.[5] Various Belgian cities had a pavilion and an artificial town, called "Oud Vlaenderen" (Old Flanders) was created.[6]

Panorama of the exposition of 1913 by Armand Heins

The four sons of Aymon statue, depicting Reinout, Adelaert, Ritsaert and Writsaert on their horse, Beyaert, was erected on the central approach avenue to the exposition.[7]

In preparation for the exhibition, renovations were made in the centre of Ghent, including a large number of houses on the Graslei.[8][9] Some years beforen the neo-gothic St Michael's Bridge had been built to provide visitors to the exhibition with a vantage point to view the town,[10] the post office[11] and the Korenmarkt (Wheat Market) had been built, and the carved heads now arrayed around it represented the rulers who attended the exhibition (including Florence Nightingale).[10] The construction of the exhibition was controversial and ended on the eve of World War I with serious debts.[12]

During the fair, an international conference on urban planning was held, organised by Paul Saintenoy, Emile Vinck, and Paul Otlet.[1]

Belgium's first aerial postage service was operated from 1 May to 25 August by Henri Crombez during the exposition.[13]

Greek confectionery maker Leonidas Kestekides attended the fair, and then settled permanently in Belgium and founded the Leonidas chocolate company.

In the last of such type of human zoo stagings,[citation needed] part of a group of 53 Igorot tribesmen from Bontoc, Mountain Province, 28-year-old Filipino Timicheg was "displayed" and died here of tuberculosis[14] or flu.[15] A tunnel in the Gent-Sint-Pieters railway station renovation project is named after him.

Participants

The participating nations included: Algeria, Austria, Canada, the Congo, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Morocco, the Netherlands, Persia, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia and the United States

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 William Whyte (ed.), Ghent Planning Congress 1913: Premier Congrès International et Exposition Comparée des Villes (Abingdon and New York, 2014), p. viii.
  2. ↑ Davy Depelchin, "The Ghent Universal and International Exhibition of 1913: Reconciling Historicism, Modernity and Exoticism", in Cultures of International Exhibitions 1840-1940, edited by Marta Filipova (Farnham, 2015), p. 185. Partial preview on Google Books.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[permanent dead link]
  8. ↑ The World of 1913 Archived 2011-01-01 at the Wayback Machine on gent.be
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ THE/1/464.cmVjPTQ0MTM4.html The Post Office Archived 2011-07-19 at the Wayback Machine at gent.be
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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