The Hague history

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The Hague, or "Den Haag" as it is called in Holland, has been in existence since around the year 1250. Today, the city is the capital of the province of South Holland (Zuid-Holland) and the official seat of the Dutch government. The Hague is not, however, the Dutch capital; that honor belongs to Amsterdam.

The Hague’s history goes has never been humble, even as long ago as 650 years. Around the year 1250, Count William the Second of Holland – and Roman Catholic King of the German Empire – had a castle built next to a small lake, which today is the Hofvijver (Hofpond). Apparently, the reason he built his castle in what was then the middle of nowhere, was that he did not want to offend any of the cities under his rule by preferring one of them over the others.

William’s son Floris V expanded on his father’s design after the latter’s early demise and added the Ridderzaal (Knights’ Room), which you can still visit today. As more and more people were attracted to the area and the town grew, mighty walls were built around the castle. The influential Dutch “stadholders” made their residence in the area, and a military presence was established to protect The Hague.

Although the town had grown into a medieval city with over 1,000 souls in 1400, it did not receive city walls. At first, other larger cities such as Leiden and Delft opposed these plans, but when even the funds were eventually appropriated, the citizens chose to build a large city hall (which still exists today) rather than a city wall.

This, however, did not turn out well. During the Eighty Years War in the 16th century, the Spanish could easily overrun the city, drive out the inhabitants, burn most of it down, and use the castle as its base of operations.

After the Eighty Years War had ended, the new Dutch Republic made The Hague its seat of government, again as a compromise between the other large Dutch cities. Lofty residences were built by the elite attracted to the area around this time. If you want to know how the “stadholder” neighborhood looked around 1650, all you have to do is visit it – much of the area still looks like it did back then.

Since the city again did not get city walls (this time due to lack of funds), it had the freedom to expand further out than most medieval cities. There was more than enough room around The Hague, and as a result the city did never have any small back alleys. Rather, the stadholders and regents built wide avenues such as Het Lange Voorhout, which you can still see today.

Although The Hague had become one of the larger cities in the Netherlands, it did not receive its official city rights until 1806, when the city was under French rule. It’s alternative name in Holland, ‘s-Gravehage, was not used until the 17th century, and then only to make the city seem more lofty.

In the 19th and 20th century, The Hague grew fast as a result of the Industrial Revolution. At first, most of the new inhabitants were housed inside of the area the city already occupied, but eventually that got too crowded and the city again expanded outward. Some of these expansions did not last long, however. During World War II, the Nazi occupiers tore down whole neighborhoods for their Atlantik Wall, and Allied bombers accidentally destroyed an entire neighborhood in a failed attempt to bomb German rocket installations.

After World War II, the city again grew in size, even reaching 600,000 citizens around 50 years ago. By this time, the housing problem in the outdated 19th century industrial neighborhoods had become so large that popular uprises were about the break out. Finally, after some abortive attempts, the city forged plans for renewal and built modern neighborhoods such as the Schilderswijk.

Today, The Hague has some 470,000 inhabitants and is one of the largest cities in the Netherlands. While it is still the seat of the Dutch government, it is also expanding its international importance as the judicial capital of the world: in addition to the Vredespaleis (Peace Palace), which you can tour, The Hague is also the site of the Yugoslavia Tribunal and the International Court of Justice.

The Hague history

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