We had arrived early for a museum visit to the Mauritshuis in Den Haag, capital of the Netherlands, when we wandered into the Binnenhof, with no idea what it was, other than a place to look around while waiting for the museum to open.
The first hint that it was something special came as we approached the gate, which is next-door to the museum, and watched a military escort accompany a car leaving through the gate.
But, since people were walking in and out with no apparent security, we joined them, and found ourselves in a blocks-long courtyard, surrounded by large stone and brick buildings.
The style could be loosely described as ‘Dutch Gothic,’ although the striped sun-awnings that were on many windows added a modern touch.
A few features, such as the round tower, made clear that there was once a military cast to the area’s history. And so we sat and Googled, and found our place in history. As did George G, who recognized our One-Clue Mystery this week.
The Binnenhof, whose outside faces the Hofvijver Lake, dates to the early 1200s when the then Count of Holland bought a small house on the site and expanded it into a fortification, including the tower above.
Various powerful and noble families lived in it and expanded it, and it was often the home of the ruler of the county of Holland, not to be confused with the Netherlands. Starting in 1581, when the Dutch Republic was proclaimed, it served as the seat of national government. The Estates General of the Netherlands still meets there, making it the world’s oldest parliament building.
It’s still the home of both houses of the Dutch parliament, as well as the office of the Prime Minister and a host of other government offices. It’s also home to an ice-cream cart, which was doing good business and a fountain with a statue honoring King Willem II, who began the building of the Binnenhof.
The fountain was originally built for an exhibition of commerce and industry in 1883, and was in the Museumplein in Amsterdam. After the exhibition ended, it was bought by 86 prominent citizens of The Hague and moved to the Binnenhof.
At first, the government refused to accept it because it would be too expensive to set up and maintain a water supply for it. Eventually a compromise was reached: the fountain would be accepted, but only turned on on rainy days.
The fountain, by the way, was designed by Pierre Cuypers, who also designed the Rijksmuseum and the main railroad station in Amsterdam.
One of the oldest parts of the complex is the Knights’ Hall, or Ridderzaal, which was originally built as a ballroom, but has also served as a meeting place for parliaments.
The entire complex has twice been threatened with destruction. From 1806 to 1810, Napoleonic France ruled the Netherlands, and moved the capital to Amsterdam, and proposed removing the buildings. It was saved when the Netherlands regained its independence in 1810 and moved the capital back.
In 1848, it was under threat again, when a new constitution instituted parliamentary democracy, and the States General proposed removing it as a symbol of the past. However, the local residents, who treasured it as a symbol of the past, intervened and it was saved.
