First stone laying ceremony with Felix Bloch, DG and Max Petitpierre, President of the Swiss Confederation Felix Bloch and Cornelis J. Bakker (left to right)

The foundation stone was laid on 10 June 1952 in the presence of Swiss and CERN authorities. Felix Bloch, CERN's first director-general, laid the stone on the laboratory site, watched by Max Petitpierre, then president of the Swiss Confederation. Among the personalities in the album one can also see Perreard, Bloch, Bakker and Sir Ben Lockspeiser.