The UN headquarters - a house with history

The United Nations headquarters is located in the Turtle Bay area of Manhattan, in New York City is a milestone of modern architecture. It was designed in the late 1940s by, amongst others, Oscar Niemeyer and Le Corbusier.

The great domed hall provides space for the delegations of the member states, which participate with up to six envoys at the meetings. In this picture from 2012, the delegates are voting in favor of a resolution granting the Palestinians a special observer status at the UN.

The UN General Assembly is held in a vast meeting room that recently underwent an extensive 16-month renovation. Much of the hall's original 1950s design remained when it reopened in 2014, with the exception of a few modern technical updates. The background behind the UN's iconic emblem also had to be replaced as years of cigarette tar and nicotine had stained the surface.

The curved gallery in the lobby is a symbol of the modernity of the building. As the architecture emerged after the Second World War, the gallery was to symbolize the dawn of a new era.

The UN General Assembly has time and again been a place where harsh verbal exchanges have taken place between countries. Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev (left, next to Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko) was in such a rage in 1960 that he took off his shoe in order to pound on the table. In the picture he is still holding the shoe in his hand.

Conflicts in the Middle East play an important role in UN meetings and often lead to scandals. In September 2012, the Iranian delegation left the hall as Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a speech. This year observers expect conciliatory gestures from Iranian President Hassan Rohani.

The complex is also notable for its gardens and outdoor sculptures. Here the former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is ringing the Japanese Peace Bell. It was an official gift from Japan to the UN in 1954. It is made out of coins donated by children. The peace bell is rung at the opening of each General Assembly session.

Iconic sculptures include the "Knotted Gun," called Non-Violence, a statue of a revolver with its barrel tied in a knot. The famous sculpture by the Swedish artist Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd stands near the entrance of the UN compound. The artist also gave a copy to German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder in 2005 for his opposition to the Iraq war.

During the renovation of the United Nation's headquarters in New York, most of the this large composition in stained glass by Belarusian-French artist Marc Chagall is a memorial to Dag Hammarskjold, former Secretary-General of the United Nations, and the 15 others who lost their lives in a plane crash in Africa while on a peace mission in 1961.

In 1996, the "Sphere within a Sphere" by sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro, was presented as a gift to the UN by Lamberto Dini, then Minister for Foreign Affairs of Italy. Nowadays several versions of the sculpture can be seen in many settings worldwide, including the Vatican Museums in Rome.