The Hague

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This article is about the city in the Netherlands; there is also a region known as (the) Hague in France.

Template:Infobox Dutch municipality 4

File:Logo den haag.gif
Arms of The Hague
File:Denhaag.gif
Flag of The city of The Hague.

The Hague (with capital T; Dutch: officially 's-Gravenhage, commonly Den Haag) is the third-largest city in the Netherlands after Amsterdam and Rotterdam, with a population of 472,087 (January 1 2005) (700,000 in the larger metropolitan area) and an area of approximately 100 km². It is located in the west of the country, in the province South Holland, of which it is also the provinicial capital.

The Hague is the seat of government, but, somewhat anomalously, not the official capital of the Netherlands, a role set aside by the Dutch constitution for Amsterdam. The Hague hosts the Eerste Kamer (lit.: "First Chamber") or "Senaat" and the Tweede Kamer (lit.: "Second Chamber"), respectively the upper and lower houses forming the Dutch parliament. Also the Dutch Queen Beatrix lives and works in The Hague. All foreign embassies and most government ministries are located in the city, as well as the Supreme Court and many lobbying organisations.

History

Binnenhof and the Knight's Hall, the political center of the Netherlands

The Hague was founded in 1248 by William II, Count of Holland and King of Germany, who was supposed to become Holy Roman Emperor. He started the construction of a castle in a forest near the sea in Holland, where he intended to live after his coronation. He died in battle before he could be crowned. His castle was not finished, but parts of it remain and are now called the Ridderzaal (Knights' Hall). It is still in use for political events, such as the annual speech from the throne by the monarch.

Later, the counts of Holland used The Hague as their administrative center. 'Des Graven Hage' literally means "The counts' hedge" or "The count's private enclosure". The powerful cities of Holland, like Leiden, Delft and Dordrecht compromised to choose the then small and unimportant The Hague as their administrative center. This policy was never changed and therefore The Hague is to this day the center of government but not the official capital.

To keep The Hague small it was not allowed city rights or allowed to build city walls. When city walls were finally allowed in the 1500s, the population decided to use the money to build a city hall instead of city walls. This proved disastrous during the Eighty Years' War, as it allowed the Spanish troops to easily occupy the town.

The Hague was finally named a city by the French occupation force in 1806, centuries after other Dutch cities had received similar rights. All this has led to the urban legend that The Hague is not a city but a village.

Because of its history it lacks a large historical inner city like the nearby cities of Leiden and Delft. But when the government started playing a more prominent role in Dutch society after 1850, The Hague quickly expanded. The older parts of the city are therefore mostly from the 19th century and the early 20th century.

View of government and business buildings next to The Hague Central Station

Parts of the city sustained heavy damage during World War II. The Atlantic Wall was built through part of the city, causing whole neighbourhoods to be torn down by the German occupiers. On March 3, 1945, the Royal Air Force bombed the Bezuidenhout. The target was an installation of V-2 rockets in a nearby park. Due to navigational errors, the bombs fell on a heavily populated part of the city. Over 500 people died and the scars in the city can still be seen today.

After the war The Hague was at a point the largest building site in Europe. The city expanded massively in the southwest. The destroyed areas were also quickly rebuilt. The population peaked at 600.000 inhabitants around 1965.

In the 1970s and 1980s the mostly white middle classes moved to the neighbouring towns like Voorburg, Leidschendam, Rijswijk and most of all Zoetermeer. This led to the traditional pattern of an impoverished inner city and more prosperous suburbs. Attempts to include parts of the suburbs in The Hague were highly controversial. In the 1990s, after consent of Dutch Parliament, The Hague did succeed in annexing fairly large areas from its neighboring towns on which complete new residential areas were built and are still being built.

The stork is the symbol of Den Haag.

The City

Hofvijver and the buildings of the Dutch parliament
The Hague City Hall

City life concentrates around the Hofvijver and the Binnenhof, which is where the Parliament is located.

The city's image is often one of a "boring" city characterised by a high number of civil servants and diplomats (see below). Although it is true that the city has fewer bars and clubs than many other Dutch cities, this has more due to the fact the city has no university and thus little student life. The number of foreign residents (especially the expats) actually means that the city is culturally diverse, with many foreign pubs, shops and events. Amongst other things this meant that for a time the city centre was known to have the most diverse selections of shops in the country, including for instance an English ‘expat-shop’.

The Hague is largest Dutch city on the North Sea and comprises two distinct beach towns. The main beach resort Scheveningen, in the northwestern part of the city, is a popular destination for tourists and young people. With 10 million visitors a year it is the most popular beach town in the Benelux. It's perhaps for this reason that many, even some Dutch people, mistakenly believe Scheveningen is a city in its own right. That is not the case: Scheveningen is one of The Hague's eight districts ("stadsdelen"). Kijkduin, in the southwest, is The Hague's other beach resort. It is a lot smaller and attracts mainly local people.

The former Dutch colony of Netherlands East Indies ("Nederlands-Indië", current-day Indonesia) has left its mark on The Hague. Many streets are named after places in the Netherlands East Indies and there is a sizable "Indisch(e)" and "Indo" (i.e. mixed Dutch-Indonesian) community. Since the loss of these Dutch possessions in December 1949, "Indisch(e)" and "Indo" people often refer to The Hague as 'the Widow of "Indië"'.

The older parts of the town usually have characteristically wide and long streets. Houses are generally low-rise (not more than 3 floors), and quite elegant. The layout of the city is more spacious than other Dutch cities. There are almost no canals in The Hague, as most of them were drained in the late 1800s.

You can find some of the most prosperous and some of the poorest neighbourhoods of the Netherlands in The Hague. The wealthier areas (The "Vogelwijk", "Statenkwartier", "Belgisch Park" and "Benoordenhout") are generally located in the Norh-West of the city. The poorer areas ("Transvaal", "Moerwijk", the "Schildersbuurt") can be found in the southern and eastern parts of the city. (The last of these, the "Schildersbuurt", was the poorest city district in Western Europe for much of the 1980s) This division is reflected in the local accent: The more affluent citizens are usually called "Hagenaars" and speak so-called "bekakt Haags" ("Bekakt" is Dutch for stuck-up). This contrasts with the "Hagenezen", who speak "plat Haags" ("plat" meaning "flat" or "common"). There is relatively little social interaction between these groups.

Business

Professional life in the city is dominated by the large number of civil servants working. Government ministries and public organisations are almost all located in The Hague. Added to that several large businesses and international organisations have their headquarters in The Hague.

There has never been a large industrial base in The Hague, with perhaps the exception of the fishing harbour of Scheveningen.

International Organisations

The Hague is home to over 150 international legal organisations like the Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Court, as a result of its rich legacy in international politics.

The foundation of The Hague as a "city of peace and justice" was lain over a hundred years ago, in 1899, when the world's first ever Peace Conference took place in The Hague, followed by a second one in 1907. A direct result of these meetings was the establishment of the first world organisation for the settlement of international disputes: the Permanent Court of Arbitration. Shortly thereafter the Scottish-American millionare Andrew Carnegie made available the necessary funds for building the Peace Palace.

In the years following the establishment of the Peace Palace, The Hague became the seat of the Permanent Court of International Justice, which was replaced by the International Court of Justice after the Second World War. In 1981 the Iran US Claims Tribunal was established, further consolidating the role of The Hague as centre of international legal arbitration.

Culture

The Hague does not have a reputation for a bustling night life. What night life there is centres around the three main squares in the city centre: the Plein (lit. "(the) Square"), the Grote Markt (lit. "Large Market") and the Buitenhof (lit. "Outer Court", which lies just outside the Binnenhof, or "Inner Court"). The Buitenhof contains the luxurious Pathé Buitenhof cinema and a handful of bars and restaurants in its immediate vicinity. A similar pattern of night life centering around a cinema is present in Scheveningen, although, especially in the summer, the sea-side boulevard with its bars, restaurants and entertainment attracts the most people.

The Hague does have its share of good museums and cultural institutions, such as:

  • Madurodam is a miniature city in The Hague, which reflects what the Netherlands look like (focusing on architecture, infrastructure and history).
  • The Royal Theatre and the Nationaal Toneel-group are located at the Korte Voorhout.
  • The Escher Museum is located in the former Royal Palace at the Lange Voorhout.
  • Panorama Mesdag houses a cylindrical 'panoramic' painting of 14 meter high x 120 meter long, depicting The Hague and Scheveningen in the 19th century, made by Hendrik Willem Mesdag. It is presented in such a way that it is almost as if one is looking at a real scene instead of a painting.
  • The Louis Couperus Museum is devoted to the life and works of the great author (1863-1923).

Sport

The local football (i.e. Soccer) club is called ADO Den Haag.

Annual Events

  • August: HaSchiBa - multicultural festival
  • Summer: series of weekly fireworks, and in one week an international fireworks festival
  • Koninginnedag (Queen's Day) April 30, is the birthday of the former queen of the Netherlands, Queen Juliana. As she considered her own birthday in January too cold for celebrations, upon her succession Queen Beatrix kept Queen's Day on April 30.
  • Koninginnenach (Queen's Night, spoken in a 'plat Haags' accent) is the night before Queen's Day and is a night with a lot of open air concerts and in fact, the entire inner city of The Hague is filled with visitors. There's also a lot of beer served and the event is mainly popular among the youth
  • Prinsjesdag (Princes' Day), the State opening of Parliament, is also held in The Hague, on the third Tuesday in September. It's mainly popular among monarchists and tourists who are out to see Queen Beatrix' Golden State Coach.
  • 'Parkpop' is the largest free Open Air Concert in Europe and is held on the last Sunday in June.
  • Pasar Malam Besar: The largest Eurasian festival in the world.
  • THIMUN has the reputation of being the oldest United Nations simulation for school students in the world and is usually held at the end of January.

Transportation

See also public transport connecting to The Hague.

Public transportation in The Hague consists of a sizeable number of tram- and buslines, operated by the Haagsche Tramwegmaatschappij, or HTM. Plans for a subway were shelved in the early 1970s. However, since 2004 there is a tunnel with two underground tram stations (Spui and Grote Markt) in the city centre; it is shared by tram lines 2, 3 and 6.

A light rail system called Randstadrail [1] is under construction, connecting The Hague, Rotterdam, Zoetermeer and suburbs.

There are two main train stations: Den Haag Hollands Spoor (gv) and Den Haag Centraal (gvc). It is somewhat confusing that many trains bypass the central station; this is because it is a terminus. The Thalys Paris - Amsterdam stops at Den Haag Hollands Spoor. Central Station connects The Hague to every major city in the Netherlands, often with direct train connections.

The nearest airport is Rotterdam Airport, but it is not easy to reach by public transport. With four trains per hour going directly from Hollands Spoor or Centraal to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, most travellers for The Hague fly to Schiphol.

Major highways near The Hague are the A12 (which also was the first highway in the Netherlands), running to Utrecht and further to the border with Germany and the A4, connecting Amsterdam, The Hague and Rotterdam with the Belgian cities of Antwerp and Brussels.

Famous People from The Hague

Politicians

See also: List of mayors of The Hague

Royalty (Actual Heads of State Only)

Arts

Sports

Miscellaneous

Population

1796: 41,300 inhabitants
1830: 56,100
1849: 63,600
1879: 113,500
1899: 206,000
1925: 394,500
1970: 550,000
1990: 441,327
2000: 441,097
2004: 469,568

Subdivisions

The Hague has eight official parts (stadsdelen)[2]:

Nearby Towns

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Den Haag.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Scheveningen.
  • For some edges of The Hague see the detailed maps of Rijswijk [3], Leidschendam-Voorburg [4] and Wassenaar [5].

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