The counts' hunting ground
The wood dates to the thirteenth century as an official hunting reserve.
Dqfn13 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · OSeveno — CC BY-SA 3.0 · OSeveno — CC BY-SA 3.0 · OSeveno — CC BY-SA 3.0
An ancient wood extending east of central The Hague, regarded as among the oldest protected forests in the Netherlands, and holding Huis ten Bosch palace, a royal residence. The story of its survival is the important part. The wood was the hunting ground of the Counts of Holland from the thirteenth century, and when the state needed money in 1576 and its sale for firewood was proposed, the States of Holland issued a document forbidding its felling for ever. That document — the Act of Perpetual Edict — is among the oldest known environmental protection decisions in the world, and is the reason a centuries-old forest stands minutes from the seat of a European government. What you see today is tall beech and oak, long straight avenues, a lake, and wild animals genuinely living inside the city. The wood suffered during the Second World War when the Germans installed V2 rocket launch sites in it and part of it was felled, after which it was replanted. It is open with free entry.
The wood dates to the thirteenth century as an official hunting reserve.
The Germans installed rocket sites and part was felled, then replanted.
Tall beech and oak and wild animals minutes from the government.
East of central The Hague
In 1944 and 1945 the Germans launched hundreds of V2 rockets at London and Antwerp from sites in and around The Hague, including the wood and the Bezuidenhout district. The rockets were inaccurate and some fell on the city itself. In March 1945 the Allies bombed the Bezuidenhout area to destroy the launch sites, but the bombs missed and struck the residential district, killing more than five hundred Dutch civilians. The episode is among the city's heaviest memories.
No. The palace has been the residence of the King and his family since 2019, its surroundings are entirely closed and guarded, and there are no tours. Parts of its roof can be glimpsed from some forest paths, and that is all. If you want a Dutch palace that can be visited, Het Loo at Apeldoorn is open to the public with its gardens, about an hour and a half away.
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