History
Unlike most Dutch cities, The Hague did not develop from a trade centre at a junction of roads and waterways. Although archaeological finds indicate that people were already living of agriculture and fishing in the area in prehistoric times, the real history of The Hague starts in the Middle Ages. The Counts of Holland had a special interest in the local forests which were full of wildlife. They based their seat of government at what is now The Hague. The 'Stadhouders', the successors of the Counts of Holland, continued to live in The Hague which grew into a substantial town, although it was never fortified. The decision not to build city walls, turned out badly as, during the Eighty year's War (1568-1648), The Hague was unable to protect itself against the Spaniards. The entire population had to flee and at one stage, the Binnenhof, the government buildings, served as the headquarters of the Spaniards. After the Vrede van Munster, The Hague became the governmental centre of the Republic and the residence of the Princes of Orange. The Queen has her residence in The Hague (Huis ten Bosch) and she uses Paleis Noordeinde as her 'work-palace'.
Seat of government but NOT the capital
Amsterdam is the capital of the country, but The Hague has always been the seat of government. The piece of land, Floris IV, count of Holland, bought in the 13th century to build a house on was situated next to a small lake. This lake still exists and is called the Hofvijver. Over the centuries, the government buildings developed around this lake and incorporated the Ridderzaal, the manorial hall Floris V, grandson of Floris IV, built on the estate. From the early 17th century, the Ridderzaal became an important trading place for booksellers, as Westminster Hall was in London. The Ridderzaal is no longer used for book trading, but is still used for governemental ceremonies, such as the Queen's speech on the third Tuesday of September.
City of peace and justice
For over a hundred years, The Hague has been known as a city where international organisations promoting, arbitrating and enforcing law and peace can be found. The world's first-ever peace conference took place in The Hague in 1899 and between 1907 and 1913 the Vredespaleis (Peace Palace) was built funded by the Scottish-American millionaire Andrew Carnegie. Some of the institutions established in the Hague are: International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. the International Criminal Court, and Europol.
Koninklijke Bibliotheek, National Library of the Netherlands
The location of SHARP 2006 is the Koninklijke Bibliotheek (Royal Library), the National Library of the Netherlands in The Hague. It is situated in a modern building adjacent to the National Archives and the Railway Station. One of the most important tasks of the Koninklijke Bibliotheek as national library is the care for the preservation of the Dutch written and printed cultural heritage. In the recent past this task has been implemented by the Depository Library of Dutch Publications, which stores every publication that appears in and about the Netherlands. For the earlier periods the Koninklijke Bibliotheek, with its present collection of over two million volumes, holds extensive collections in the field of Dutch cultural history. Its long tradition of collecting has not neglected the scholarly literature from foreign countries, an additional reason why the Koninklijke Bibliotheek is considered a leading learned library of the humanities. It can boast large collections of medieval and later manuscripts, printed books from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century, and precious books from later periods. Together they constitute a time-honoured patrimony spanning an epoch of more than a thousand years. Stadholder Prince William V unwittingly laid the foundations for the Koninklijke Bibliotheek. In 1798 the Representative Body of the Batavian Republic resolved to change the former library of the stadholders into a national library. Read more.
Links
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| Coat of arms |
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| Ridderzaal |
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| Vredespaleis |