The Hague

Japanese: ハーグ - はーぐ（英語表記）The Hague

The capital of the province of South Holland in the southwest of the Netherlands, and the de facto capital where the country's government agencies are located. Its official name is Sgravenhage. It is commonly known as Den Haag, and its English name is The Hague, and its French name is La Haye. In Japan, it was formerly written as "Kaiga." With a population of 442,356 (2001), it is the third largest city in the Netherlands after the capital Amsterdam and Rotterdam, and is known as an international political city. It is located on flat land about 3 kilometers from the North Sea coast, and although there are also industries such as metals, food, printing, and clothing, it is primarily a political and residential city.

The city is centered around the Binnenhof (meaning "inner court"), which was formerly the palace of the Counts of Holland and the Dutch royal family and is now home to the parliament, the Prime Minister's Office, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In the inner court of the Binnenhof is the Ridderzaal (meaning "Knight's Hall"), which is the parliament building. In the surrounding area are many historical buildings and facilities, such as the square pond called Hof Pfeiffer, the Mauritshuis Museum, which has a large collection of 17th century Dutch paintings by Rembrandt and Vermeer, and the commercial district of Buitenhof (meaning "outer court"), where foreign diplomatic missions are also concentrated. In the center of the city, there are the Renaissance-style Old Town Hall, the late Gothic-style Great Church, and the New Church, which contains the graves of the politicians De With brothers and the philosopher Spinoza. Around Central Station, close to the city center, there are central government offices such as the Royal Library and the National Archives, and a forest park including the Royal Palace (Huis ten Bosch) is adjacent. Further north in the new city centre is the Peace Palace, known for being donated by American steel magnate Carnegie between 1907 and 1913.

The cityscape is regularly divided by wide streets and canals built in the early 17th century, and is a residential city with quiet mansions, vast parks, and many forests. In the northern suburbs, there is the miniature city of Madurodam, which reproduces the representative buildings of Dutch cities at a 1/25 scale, and on the North Sea coast, there is the Scheveningen district, which is famous as a herring fishing port, beach, and resort, and it also has a tourist and resort aspect.

[Fukuya Kurihara and Koji Hasegawa]

history

The official name of the town, Schravenhage, means "Count's Hedgerow" and, as the name suggests, it was a hunting ground for the Counts of Holland. In 1248, Count William II of Holland (reigned 1234-1256) built the castle Ridderzaal on this site, and Floris V added the surrounding castles Binnenhof and Buitenhof, making it the residence of the Counts of Holland. This is the origin of the town, and a commercial district was formed around the castle in the 13th and 14th centuries. During the Burgundian period (1436-1482) and the Habsburg period (1482-1555), it became the residence of the Governors of Holland, and during the Dutch Republic period (1588-1795), it was the location of the Federal Parliament and the Dutch Provincial Parliament, and the residence of the successive Governors of the House of Orange. Until 1795, it was the capital of the Federal Republic, and from 1815 to 1830, it alternated with Brussels (now Belgium) as the capital of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. During the republican period, The Hague was far behind Amsterdam in terms of economy and culture, but it flourished as a political and diplomatic stage, and its population exceeded 20,000. However, unlike other cities during the republican period, The Hague was never granted city privileges, and was not represented in the provincial parliament. It was not until 1830 that it was granted autonomy. In the same year, the constitutional capital was moved to Amsterdam, but the city expanded in the mid-19th century under the rule of William II (reigned 1840-1849), and the Dutch Royal Palace was located in The Hague until 1948. Since the 17th century, The Hague has been the site of important international conferences, most notably the two Hague Peace Conferences in 1899 and 1907, and the Hague Conference on Private International Law, which has been held in The Hague since 1893. As a result, the International Court of Arbitration was established in 1899, and the permanent International Court of Justice (ICJ) was established in 1922, establishing The Hague's status as an international city. In 1995, the ICJ held a hearing to determine whether the use of nuclear weapons violated international law. Many anti-nuclear groups from Japan attended the hearing, and the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki testified. In May 1997, the headquarters of the Chemical Weapons Convention was also established in The Hague, and the city is involved in inspection activities.

[Fukuya Kurihara and Koji Hasegawa]

[References] | The Hague Peace Conference

Riddersaal
The parliament building in the courtyard of the Binnenhof, which is the government building. Ridderzaal means "Knight's Hall". The Hague, Netherlands ©Shogakukan ">

Riddersaal

Madurodam
A theme park that exhibits miniature buildings. Famous places and buildings from all over the Netherlands are made at 1/25 scale on a site of about 20,000 m. The Hague, Netherlands ©Shogakukan ">

Madurodam

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

オランダ南西部、ゾイト・ホラント州の州都で、かつ同国の政府機関が所在する実質上の首都。正式名称はスフラーフェンハーヘ's-Gravenhage。通称はデン・ハーフDen Haagで、その英語名がザ・ハーグ、フランス語名がラ・エLa Haye。日本ではかつて「海牙」と記した。人口44万2356（2001）は、首都アムステルダム、ロッテルダムに次ぎオランダ第3位で、国際的な政治都市として知られる。北海沿岸から約3キロメートルの平地上に位置し、金属、食品、印刷、衣料などの工業も立地するが、政治・住宅都市としての性格が強い。

　市街は、もとホラント伯およびオランダ王室の宮殿であり現在は国会や総理府、外務省などがあるビンネンホーフ（「内庭」の意）を中心に展開する。ビンネンホーフの中庭には国会議事堂となっているリッダーザール（「騎士の館(やかた)」の意）がある。その周辺にはホーフ・ファイファーとよばれる方形の池をはじめ、レンブラント、フェルメールら17世紀オランダ絵画を多数所蔵するマウリッツハイス美術館、商業地区をなすバイテンホーフ（「外庭」の意）など歴史的な建造物、施設が多く、外国公館も集中する。このほか市中央部には、ルネサンス様式の旧市庁舎、後期ゴシック様式の大教会、政治家デ・ウィット兄弟や哲学者スピノザの墓がある新教会などがある。また、中心街に近い中央駅周辺には、王立図書館、国立中央文書館をはじめ中央諸官庁が並び、王宮（ハイス・テン・ボス）を含む森林公園が隣接する。さらに北部の新市街には、アメリカの鉄鋼王カーネギーが1907～1913年に寄贈したことで知られる平和宮が位置する。

　町並み全体は17世紀初期に建設された広い街路と運河によって規則的に区画され、閑静な邸宅街と広大な公園、森林が多い住宅都市となっている。北部郊外には、オランダ諸都市の代表的建造物を25分の1の縮尺で再現したミニチュア都市マドゥローダム、また北海沿岸には、ニシン漁港および海水浴場、保養地として有名なスヘーフェニンゲン地区があり、観光・保養都市としての側面も有する。

［栗原福也・長谷川孝治］

歴史

正称スフラーフェンハーヘは「伯爵の生け垣（領地）」の意で、その名が示すように、ホラント伯の狩猟地であった。この地に1248年ホラント伯ウィレム2世Willem Ⅱ（在位1234～1256）が城館リッダーザールを築き、さらにフロリス5世によってその周囲にビンネンホーフ、バイテンホーフが付け加えられ、ホラント伯の居城になった。これが町の起源で、城館を核に13～14世紀に商業地区が形成された。ブルゴーニュ時代（1436～1482）、ハプスブルク時代（1482～1555）にはホラント州総督の居館になり、オランダ連邦共和国時代（1588～1795）には連邦議会およびホラント州議会の開催地、オラニエ家歴代総督の居住地となった。1795年までは連邦共和国の、1815～1830年はブリュッセル（現、ベルギー）と交替でネーデルラント王国の、それぞれ首都とされた。共和国時代から、ハーグは経済・文化の面でアムステルダムに遠く及ばなかったが、政治・外交の舞台として栄え、人口も2万を超えた。しかし共和国時代のハーグは他都市と異なり、都市特権を与えられたことはなく、州議会への代表も認められなかった。自治権が認められたのはようやく1830年になってからである。同年に憲法上の首都がアムステルダムに移ったが、ウィレム2世（在位1840～1849）治下の19世紀中葉に市街は拡大し、また1948年までオランダ王宮が置かれていた。17世紀以降、重要な国際会議の舞台となり、とりわけ1899年と1907年の2回のハーグ平和会議、1893年以来開催されてきたハーグ国際私法会議が有名。その結果1899年に国際仲裁裁判所、1922年に常設の国際司法裁判所（ICJ）が設置され、国際的都市としての地位が確立した。同裁判所では、1995年核兵器の使用が国際法に違反するかどうかを問う審理が行われた。日本からも反核団体など多数が傍聴、また広島・長崎市長が証言した。1997年5月には、化学兵器禁止条約の本部もハーグに設置され、査察業務などに携わっている。

［栗原福也・長谷川孝治］

[参照項目] | ハーグ平和会議

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