Loosduinen
# Loosduinen

Loosduinen (Dutch pronunciation:) is a former village in the Netherlands that was a municipality unto itself until 1923, when it was annexed by The Hague and subsequently became a district of the city.

Within the district there is also a neighbourhood (Dutch:wijk) called 'Loosduinen'.

It has its own dialect, the Loosduinen dialect, which is very similar to The Hague dialect.

## History

The area of modern-day Loosduinen has been inhabited for at least 4,500 years. Archaeologists have found many traces of previous civilisations during excavations. For example, traces of Romans and Cananefates have been found around the beginning of our era. The origin of the name Loosduinen, however, cannot be traced back in either objects that have been found during excavations and in literature. Nonetheless, it is quite certain that it is an ancient name, since it has been used in the past to name a very old geographical area. The objects that have been recovered during excavations tell that during the first centuries after Christ Loosduinen was on the edge of the Roman empire. These objects range from bronze objects and coins to pottery. Furthermore, horse graves have been found and a small fort has been excavated at Ockenburgh. Around the Uithofslaan a fragment of an altar and a bronze censer was found and of the native inhabitants of that time, the Cananefates, the remains of farms have been found as well.

Records point out that the actual village of Loosduinen emerged around a monastery in the twelfth century. During this time Count Floris III of Holland also founded a chapel (today known as Abbey Church) in Loosduinen, which was part of his property. The first actual written mention of Loosduinen 'Losdun' can be found in the annals of the Egmond Abbey. In these annals it is written that in 1186 Count Dirk VII of Holland married Aleida van Kleef in the chapel of the villa Losdun. Archaeologists have also discovered a farm from this period in the Loosduinen. Records also indicate that around 1228, Count Floris IV of Holland and his wife Machteld van Brabant founded a Cistercian abbey for nuns in Loosduinen. Floris IV also bought a farm in The Hague, which would later become the modern day Ridderzaal. An iconic building in both The Hague and the Netherlands. His successor, Count Floris V, separated two area's known as Haagambacht and Monsterambacht from each other in the year 1280 and as a result split a village in two parts. This village that had 36 residents in 1561 was built on what is nowadays known as the Loosduinse Hoofdstraat.

There is a legend going around that in the 14th and 15th centuries the Abbey Church acquired international fame as a place of pilgrimage for women who remained childless. The reason why barren women made a pilgrimage to the abbey is because countess Margaretha van Hennebergh and all her children were buried there. The countess gave birth to 365 sons and daughters on Good Friday in 1276. The myth goes that the countess was punished to die with all her children because she had driven away a beggar. The Abbey Church stayed a popular pilgrimage destination for barren women well into the eighteenth century. A wallplate of the story can still be seen in the Abbey Church. The monastery was destroyed at the beginning of the Eighty Years' War (1568-1648), while only a large part of the church remains. The church building is now the oldest stone building in The Hague.

During the period that the French government ruled the Netherlands, the government administration was reorganised. This meant for Loosduinen that it became an independent municipality on 21 October 1811. In addition the districts Eikenduinen, Poeldijk and Kwintsheul became part of the Loosduinen municipality, with F. van der Goes as the first mayor. However, already soon, in 1817, Kwintsheul and Poeldijk were returned to Monster. In the meantime Loosduinen remained, as it always has been, a rural municipality of farmers and market gardeners that focused mainly on cultivating fruits and vegetables. In the second half of the 19th century the cultivation of potatoes became important due to the export to United Kingdom where the demand for potatoes was high, especially during the Great Famine. The development of horticulture also took an ever-increasing flight. Around 1880 a lot was grown under glass. Especially the cultivation of green cucumbers was important. In 1899 the Loosduinsche Groentenveiling was founded by 62 gardeners: soon there were 109 members. The special thing about the gardeners from Loosduin was that they were the first to make compulsory auctioning in the Netherlands. Members were therefore prohibited from selling their products outside the auction.

## Geography

The district of Loosduinen has several subdistricts. Each subdistrict gets special attention by the municipal administration of The Hague. For example, for each subdistrict the municipal administration has made a plan for the period 2016–2019. These plans are tailored to the specific needs of each subdistrict.

| Subistrict | Population | Total area | Land area | Density | Neighbourhoods |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Bohemen, Bos en Meer | 4,892 | 142.5 | 138.2 | 40.0 | 2 neighbourhoods Bohemen/Meer en Bos Bosjes van Pex |
| Kijkduin en Ockenburgh | 2,345 | 490.9 | 459.4 | 5.1 | 2 neighbourhoods Kijkduin Ockenburgh |
| Kraayenstein en Vroondaal | 5,857 | 336.1 | 299.8 | 19.5 | None |
| Loosduinen | 17,861 | 274.2 | 265.3 | 67.3 | 3 neighbourhoods Houtwijk Kerktuinen/Zichtenburg Kom Loosduinen |
| Waldeck | 17,146 | 185.3 | 177.7 | 96.5 | 5 neighbourhoods Componistenbuurt Nieuw Waldeck Rosenburg Waldeck-Noord Waldeck-Zuid |
