s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a
city
A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
and
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality' ...
in the
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
with a population of 160,783. It is the capital of the
province
A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
of
North Brabant and its fourth largest city by population. The city is south of the
Maas river and near the
Waal
WAAL (99.1 FM broadcasting, FM; "The Whale") is a commercial radio, commercial radio station licensed to Binghamton, New York. It airs a classic rock radio format and is owned by Townsquare Media. WAAL is the oldest FM radio station continuou ...
.
History
The city's official name is a contraction of the (archaic)
Dutch — . The duke in question was
Henry I, Duke of Brabant, whose family had owned a large estate at nearby Orthen for at least four centuries. He founded a new town located on some forested dunes in the middle of a marsh. At age 26, he granted 's-Hertogenbosch
city rights and the corresponding trade privileges in 1185. This is the traditional date given by later chroniclers; the first mention in contemporaneous sources is 1196. The original
charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...
has been lost. His reason for founding the city was to protect his own interests against encroachment from
Gelre and
Holland
Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...
; from its first days, he conceived of the city as a fortress. It was destroyed in 1203 in a joint expedition of Gelre and Holland, but was soon rebuilt. Some remnants of the original city walls remain.

In the late 14th century, a much larger wall was erected to protect the greatly expanded settled area. Artificial waterways were dug to serve as a city moat, through which the rivers
Dommel and
Aa were diverted. 's-Hertogenbosch became the birthplace and home of
northern Renaissance
The Northern Renaissance was the Renaissance that occurred in Europe north of the Alps, developing later than the Italian Renaissance, and in most respects only beginning in the last years of the 15th century. It took different forms in the vari ...
painter
Hieronymus Bosch
Hieronymus Bosch (; ; born Jheronimus van Aken ; – 9 August 1516) was a Dutch people, Dutch painter from Duchy of Brabant, Brabant. He is one of the most notable representatives of the Early Netherlandish painting school. His work, gene ...
.
Until 1520, the city flourished, becoming the second largest population centre in the territory of the present Netherlands, after
Utrecht
Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...
. The city was also a center of music, and composers, such as
Jheronimus Clibano, received their training at its churches. Others held positions there:
Matthaeus Pipelare was musical director at the Confraternity of Our Lady; and renowned Habsburg copyist and composer
Pierre Alamire did much of his work at 's-Hertogenbosch.
Eighty Years' War
The wars of the
Reformation
The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...
changed the course of the city's history. It became an independent
bishopric
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...
. During the
Eighty Years' War
The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt (; 1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish Empire, Spanish government. The Origins of the Eighty Years' War, causes of the w ...
, the city took the side of the
Habsburg (
Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
) authorities and thwarted a
Calvinist
Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...
coup. It was besieged several times by Prince
Maurice of
Orange,
stadtholder of most of the
Dutch Republic
The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...
, who wanted to bring 's-Hertogenbosch under the rule of the rebel United Provinces. The city was successfully defended against Prince Maurice in
1601
This Epoch (reference date)#Computing, epoch is the beginning of the 400-year Gregorian leap-year cycle within which digital files first existed; the last year of any such cycle is the only leap year whose year number is divisible by 100.
Jan ...
and again in 1603, but it eventually fell in the
1629 siege led by his brother
Frederick Henry.
[Knight, Charles Raleigh: ''Historical records of The Buffs, East Kent Regiment (3rd Foot) formerly designated the Holland Regiment and Prince George of Denmark's Regiment''. Vol I. London, Gale & Polden, 1905]
pp. 69-70
/ref>
Thirty Years' War
In the years of Truce, before the renewed fighting after 1618, the fortifications were greatly expanded. The surrounding marshes made a siege of the conventional type impossible, and the fortress, deemed impregnable, was nicknamed ''moerasdraak'', or the Swamp Dragon. The town was nevertheless finally conquered by Frederik Hendrik of Orange in 1629 in a typically Dutch stratagem: he diverted the rivers Dommel and Aa, created a polder
A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrology, hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as levee, dikes. The three types of polder are:
# Land reclamation, Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a ...
by constructing a forty-kilometre (25 mile) dyke and then pumped out the water by mills. After a siege of three months, the city had to surrender—an enormous blow to Habsburg geo-political strategy during the Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...
. This surrender cut the town off from the rest of the duchy and the area was treated by the Republic as an occupation zone without political liberties (see also Generality Lands).
Louis XIV to Bonaparte
After the Peace of Westphalia
The Peace of Westphalia (, ) is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought peace to the Holy Roman Empire ...
, the fortifications were again expanded. In 1672, the Dutch '' rampjaar'', the city held against the army of Louis XIV
LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...
of France. In 1794 French revolutionary troops under the command of Charles Pichegru attacked the city. It was only weakly defended, and fell after a short siege. Pichegru then crossed the rivers and put an end to the Dutch Republic.
Under the new Batavian Republic
The Batavian Republic (; ) was the Succession of states, successor state to the Dutch Republic, Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on 19 January 1795 after the Batavian Revolution and ended on 5 June 1806, with the acce ...
, established in 1795, both Catholics and ''Brabanders'' at last gained equal rights. From 1806, the city became part of the Kingdom of Holland and from 1810, it was incorporated into the First French Empire
The First French Empire or French Empire (; ), also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Europe at the beginning of the 19th century. It lasted from ...
. It was captured by the Prussia
Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
ns in 1814.
Kingdom of the Netherlands
The next year, 1815, when the United Kingdom of the Netherlands was established, it became the capital of North Brabant. Many newer and more modern fortresses were created in the vicinity of the city. A new canal was built, the 'Zuid-Willemsvaart', which gave the city an economic impulse. Trade, manufacturing and industry grew. Until 1878, it was forbidden to build outside the ramparts. That led to overcrowding and the highest infant mortality
Infant mortality is the death of an infant before the infant's first birthday. The occurrence of infant mortality in a population can be described by the infant mortality rate (IMR), which is the number of deaths of infants under one year of age ...
in the kingdom.
At the end of the 19th century, the very conservative city government prevented industrial investment to avoid an increase in the number of workers and the establishment of educational institutions: students were regarded as disorderly. As a result, the relative importance of the city diminished.
World War II and after
One of the few official Nazi
Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
concentration camp
A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...
complexes in Western Europe
Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context.
The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...
outside Germany and Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
was named after 's-Hertogenbosch. It operated from January 1943, to September 1944 and was known to the Germans as Herzogenbusch (see List of subcamps of Herzogenbusch). About 30,000 inmates were interned in the complex during this time, of whom about 12,000 were Jew
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...
s. In the Netherlands, this camp is known as 'Kamp Vught', because the concentration camp was actually located at a heath near Vught, a village a few kilometres south of 's-Hertogenbosch.
The city was occupied by German forces during World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
from 1940 to 1944. The railway station was bombed by planes of the Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
on 16 September 1944. The city was liberated between 24 and 27 October 1944 during Operation Pheasant by British soldiers of Major-General Robert Knox Ross's 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division following the victory of the 1st Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment, of 158th Infantry Brigade over the enemy on 23–24 October.
After the war, 's-Hertogenbosch was modernized, like many other cities in the Netherlands. It was possible that it was only the geography that shielded the old town from rigorous reconstruction in those early years. Just in time, the pendulum swung back to protecting the history of the city. In 1956, the council wanted to demolish the Moriaan, the oldest brick building in the Netherlands, to give traffic better access to the market square. The permit was refused by the government and instead the building was restored, starting in 1963. Later, city councils became much more aware of the value of historic buildings and from about the turn of the millennium, the historic fortifications are also given much attention by the authorities.
Geography
Population centres
The population centres in the municipality are: Bokhoven, Crevecoeur, Deuteren (former village), Dieskant, Empel, Engelen, Gewande, 's-Hertogenbosch, Hintham, Kruisstraat, Maliskamp, Meerwijk, Orthen (former village), Oud-Empel, and Rosmalen.
Climate
Climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfall year-round. The Köppen Climate Classification
The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
subtype for this climate is " Cfb" (Marine West Coast Climate/Oceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...
).
Economy
The city of 's-Hertogenbosch has become a center of industry, education, administration and culture. It is currently the fourth city of North Brabant. It is home to many national and international businesses such as Heineken, Epic, Tyco International, SAP and many others. The Jeroen Bosch Hospital is the biggest employer in the area, with over 4,000 employees.
Culture
's-Hertogenbosch is home to a variety of events such as the theatre festival ''Boulevard'', ''Jazz in Duketown'', and hip hop in duketown, the start of the Tour de France (1996), Tour Feminin (1997), the International Vocal Competition, November Music (a contemporary music festival) and the UNICEF Open (formerly the Ordina Open) grass court tennis tournament (in the nearby town of Rosmalen). There are also over 350 restaurants, pubs and cafés to be found in the city.
's-Hertogenbosch is also home to the European Ceramic Work Centre. This is a juried international ceramic residency where they invite artists, designers and architects from around to the world to explore the medium of Ceramics. This program was initially started in 1991 and continues to this day.
The city has its own food speciality, the Bossche Bol — effectively a giant profiterole
A profiterole (), ''chou à la crème'' (), also known alternatively as a cream puff (US), is a Filling (cooking), filled French choux pastry ball with a typically sweet and moist filling of whipped cream, custard, pastry cream, or ice cream. Th ...
, somewhat larger than a tennis ball, which is filled with whipped cream and coated with chocolate
Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavoring, flavor other foods.
Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''); unprocesse ...
.
The spoken language is (the variant spoken in 's-Hertogenbosch is called ''Bosch'' which is placed among the Central North Brabantian dialects, although other classification systems also describe it as East Brabantian), which is very similar to colloquial Dutch.
De Toonzaal is a music venue for chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...
, improvised music, and experimental music
Experimental music is a general label for any music or music genre that pushes existing boundaries and genre definitions. Experimental compositional practice is defined broadly by exploratory sensibilities radically opposed to, and questioning of, ...
. For popular music there is the venue W2 (or Willem II).
Museums
The Noordbrabants Museum is a provincial museum with an overview of works that Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks ...
made in Brabant. The Design Museum Den Bosch is a modern art museum. The Jheronimus Bosch Art Center, is dedicated to the work of Hieronymus Bosch
Hieronymus Bosch (; ; born Jheronimus van Aken ; – 9 August 1516) was a Dutch people, Dutch painter from Duchy of Brabant, Brabant. He is one of the most notable representatives of the Early Netherlandish painting school. His work, gene ...
. Other museums include the Swan Brothers' House and Museum Slager. Also the National (Dutch) Carnavalsmuseum Oeteldonks gemintemuzejum is located in the city. In the near future a new museum will be opened about the fortresses of the town and in general in Europe. The house where the famous painter Hieronymus produced his paintings can be visited on the market square.
Carnival celebrations
's-Hertogenbosch has a strong carnival
Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that occurs at the close of the Christian pre-Lenten period, consisting of Quinquagesima or Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras.
Carnival typi ...
tradition. In its current form the story and symbolism dates from 1881 to 1883. In these years some citizens created the legend of "Oeteldonk", whereby the city was renamed to Oeteldonk for the three day carnival. "Donk" is a reference to a dry place in the marsh
In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in genera ...
. The frog is widely used as a symbol during the 's-Hertogenbosch Carnival. It is also a symbol of the Oeteldonk marsh
In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in genera ...
. It was also a remark aimed at Bishop Godschalk from Den Dungen, where 'Van den Oetelaar' was a common family name. He had wanted to forbid the traditional festivities of Shrove Tuesday
Shrove Tuesday (also known as Pancake Tuesday or Pancake Day) is the final day of Shrovetide, which marks the end of the pre-Lenten season. Lent begins the following day with Ash Wednesday. Shrove Tuesday is observed in many Christian state, Ch ...
that often led to excesses.
Oeteldonk is a village and therefore every inhabitant is a farmer or a '' (a girl or young woman), eliminating class differences. The village is headed by the Mayor "Peer vaan den Muggenheuvel tot den Bobberd". Each year the mayor of 's-Hertogenbosch hands over his authority to the Mayor of Oeteldonk. On Sunday at 11:11 AM the Mayor of Oeteldonk then receives Prince Carnaval "Prince Amadeiro XXVI" at Oeteldonk central station. From there a parade of all carnival clubs escorts the company to the town hall.
The citizens of 's-Hertogenbosch wear traditional outfits throughout these days. A so-called ''boerenkiel'' is worn and every year patches are designed according to that years theme which can then be stitched onto the outfit. The ''boerenkiel'' is often combined with a traditional farmers bandana and a long scarf in the colors of Oeteldonk. The tradition of the Boerenkiel and / or Bandana is very different from the carnival traditions in the rest of the Netherlands. Other aspects like the parade, the temporary name and the temporary flag (for Oeteldonk red, white and yellow) are very similar.
Attractions
's-Hertogenbosch was founded as a fortified city and that heritage can still be seen today. After World War II, plans were made to modernise the old city, by filling in the canals, removing or modifying some ramparts and redeveloping historic neighbourhoods. Before these plans could come to effect, the central government declared the city a protected townscape. Most historic elements have been preserved. In contrast to cities like Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
, 's-Hertogenbosch also survived the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
relatively unscathed. Much of its historic heritage remains intact, and today there are always renovations going on in the city to preserve the many old buildings, fortifications, churches and statues for later generations.
City center
The city center has a cosy atmosphere because of the almost continuous ramparts that still surround it. It has been molded by the multiple rivers that convene on 's-Hertogenbosch, giving the center its strange street plan so different from the usual grid plan where streets meet at right angles. The center is dominated by Saint John's Cathedral (''Sint-Janskathedraal'' in Dutch), which dates from c. 1220 and is best known for its Brabantine Gothic design and the many sculptures of craftsmen that are sitting on almost every arc and rim along the outside of the cathedral. In 2010 an extensive restoration was completed, undoing the damage of many years of wear-and-tear and acid rain
Acid rain is rain or any other form of Precipitation (meteorology), precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it has elevated levels of hydrogen ions (low pH). Most water, including drinking water, has a neutral pH that exists b ...
.
On the central square is the oldest remaining brick house of the Netherlands, 'de Moriaan', which was built at the beginning of the 13th century. In the 1960s, de Moriaan was renovated to its former glory based on a famous 16th-century Dutch painting called 'De Lakenmarkt van 's-Hertogenbosch' ('The fabric market of 's-Hertogenbosch'). The town hall is an original 14th-century Gothic building. After the town was conquered by the Dutch Republic in 1629, it received a new facade in the style of Dutch Baroque architecture. It showcased the authority of the new masters, just like the new town hall in Maastricht would.
Hidden below the old city is a canal
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...
network called the Binnendieze, which once spanned . It started out as a regular river, the Dommel, running through the city in medieval times. Due to a lack of space in the city, people started building their houses and roads over the river. Later, the Binnendieze functioned as a sewer and fell into disrepair. In recent decades, the remaining sixth part of the old waterway system has been renovated, and it is possible to take several guided subterranean boat trips through it.
Fortifications
's-Hertogenbosch has an extensive and almost complete fifteenth-to-seventeenth-century city fortification. It was made to profit from the city's strong defensive position, lying on a sandy hill in the center of a large swamp fed by many rivers. This also caused the main ramparts to be preserved, because they were crucial in keeping out the water. In 2004 the city was awarded the title ''European Fortress City of the year''. In the years that followed it restored many of the city defenses to much of their old glory.
Apart from small sections of medieval walls, the main structure of the fortification is a late-medieval (fifteenth-century) wall. The upper sections were removed when cannon became more powerful, and polygonal bastions were added, some after the conquest by the republic. Most of these have not been restored to their original height, but do maintain their brick walls. The citadel
A citadel is the most fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of ''city'', meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core.
...
in the north west of the city does retain its original height. Around the city itself many other fortresses can still be seen.
In the north east of the old city, the hexagonal gunpowder magazine, called is located close to the citadel. It is one of only a handful that still exist in the Netherlands, and was built when the city was still part of the Spanish Netherlands
The Spanish Netherlands (; ; ; ) (historically in Spanish: , the name "Flanders" was used as a '' pars pro toto'') was the Habsburg Netherlands ruled by the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs from 1556 to 1714. They were a collection of States of t ...
. It is planned to become the museum of fortress 's-Hertogenbosch. One of the bastions of the fortress now houses the mini museum Bastionder. It has been dug out in a bastion of the south side. On the inside it shows a unique wrought iron cannon, and an older bastion that was walled in by the current one.
Nature
On the south side of the city, the city center and walls still border the Bossche Broek, an old polder
A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrology, hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as levee, dikes. The three types of polder are:
# Land reclamation, Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a ...
that could never be made dry. In 1995 the dyke of the Dommel broke and an enormous amount of water entered the polder. It also flooded and blocked the main Dutch highway A2. In order to prevent this in the future, the area was rearranged to store excess water in case of emergencies. In 2006 the area had been furnished with higher dikes and locks that allowed a controlled flooding of the polder and some adjacent areas in case of emergency.
The Bossche Broek is now a nature reserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...
, that stretches all the way to Vught. It is connected to the Moerputten and Vlijmens Ven, with which it forms a Natura 2000 area. Rare species in the area are the scarce large blue and the European weather loach. The Moerputten sports the Moerputten Bridge, a 600 metre (650 yard) long nineteenth century railway bridge and engineering feat. What is unique about the area is its close proximity to the city center.
Miscellaneous
The city is also the location of the '' Bolwoningen'' complex, an array of fifty experimental spherical houses designed by Dries Kreijkamp.
The Lutheran Church, 's-Hertogenbosch is no longer used as a church.
Sport
The city has one professional football club, FC Den Bosch. It is the 1967 successor of the professional branches of BVV (Bossche Voetbal Vereniging) and Wilhelmina. Both of them still exist as amateur football clubs. As a successor of BVV FC Den Bosch can claim the national championship of 1948. This championship led to the construction of stadium De Vliert, which at one time had a capacity of 30,000. Due to the less successful years that followed, the capacity is now only 8,500 visitors. FC Den Bosch was the first club of Dutch international player Ruud van Nistelrooy.
's-Hertogenbosch is more successful in field hockey. It is home to top club HC Den Bosch. The women's team in particular is a dominant force in the Dutch field hockey competition. The professional basketball club New Heroes Den Bosch is also very successful. The city's rugby club is called The Dukes and dates from 1974. It is located at a very scenic location at the foot of the city walls. Because of the limited space, the club plays on artificial turf
Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass, used in sports arenas, residential lawns and commercial applications that traditionally use grass. It is much more durable than grass and easily maintained wi ...
and part of the accommodation is subterranean. The Dukes has the most junior members. It became the national rugby champion in 2008.
As regards events the city is host to the Rosmalen Grass Court Championships, a combined ATP Tour
The ATP Tour (known as ATP World Tour between January 2009 and December 2018) is the sole worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) founded in 1990 that replaced the earlier dual Grand Prix ...
and WTA Tour grass court tennis event played two weeks before the Wimbledon Championships. The World Archery Championships
The World Archery Championships are a series of competitions in Archery organised by the World Archery Federation. The first competition held under that title took place in 1931.
Competition archery takes a wide variety of formats, but the titl ...
and World Para Archery Championship were held here in June 2019. During these combined World Championships two separate venues were used: the Parade and the rugby fields of The Dukes. All finals took place in the arena at the Parade. The Parade is a historic square surrounded by high trees, situated at the foot of the nearly seven-hundred-year-old Saint John's Cathedral in the attractive center of 's-Hertogenbosch.
Transport
The Zuid-Willemsvaart
The Zuid-Willemsvaart (; translated: ''South William's Canal'') is a canal in the south of the Netherlands and the east of Belgium.
Route
The Zuid-Willemsvaart is a canal in the provinces Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg (Belgium), and North B ...
runs from the Meuse just north of the city towards Maastricht via Helmond and Weert. In 's-Hertogenbosch it runs through the city proper, south east from where a bastion has been cut off from the citadel. Because of this route it was impossible to widen it further than for ships of CEMT class II. Therefore, the Máxima Canal of 8 km (5 miles) was dug just east of the city, creating a shortcut from the canal to the Meuse suitable for ships of CEMT class IV. On the remaining part of the Zuid-Willemsvaart west of the city is the industrial harbor of 's-Hertogenbosch. A marina is located in the center.
's-Hertogenbosch is situated on the busy A2 motorway, the most important north–south connection of the Netherlands. This connection was established with the opening of the Dieze Bridge in 1942. From 1961 the Utrecht-'s-Hertogenbosch section was 2 times 2 lanes. In 1970 the A2 was rerouted to the east of the city. In 1989 it finally became a controlled-access highway
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...
. In 1996 the section between 's-Hertogenbosch and Eindhoven
Eindhoven ( ; ) is a city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, located in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant, of which it is the largest municipality, and is also locat ...
became a controlled-access highway. The situation in Maastricht
Maastricht ( , , ; ; ; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital city, capital and largest city of the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Maastricht is loca ...
was only solved in 2016, when the Koning Willem-Alexandertunnel was opened. On the east–west axis 's-Hertogenbosch is on the A59 motorway. The A65 motorway between 's-Hertogenbosch and Tilburg
Tilburg () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. With a population of 22 ...
is a regional highway, but is not completely access-controlled.
's-Hertogenbosch railway station is on the Utrecht–Boxtel part of the railway stretch between Amsterdam and the Dutch industrial/tech center near Eindhoven. As a consequence north–south trains depart every ten minutes. On the Tilburg–Nijmegen railway trains run on a more modest schedule. 's-Hertogenbosch railway station is also a major station for Arriva
Arriva Ltd. is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England.
The company was originally established on 24 October 1938 as T Cowie Ltd. Initially focused on the sale of motorcycles, it relaunched shortl ...
buslines that serve the city and most of its suburbs. Other stations within the limits of the municipality are 's-Hertogenbosch Oost railway station and Rosmalen railway station. Vught railway station is actually closer to the city center than that in Rosmalen.
's-Hertogenbosch has attempted to adapt to the growing popularity of the bicycle in Dutch cities. A reasonable amount of bike paths has so far been constructed in the town. In 2011, the city was chosen as '' Fietsstad 2011''—the top bike city of the Netherlands for 2011. The details of the report were less jubilant and showed that it was really a prize meant to stimulate 's-Hertogenbosch to take further action; Hugo van der Steenhoven of the Fietsersbond: "''In the past years Den Bosch has spent much energy, ambition, creativity and money to give cycling an enormous boost. This is a big achievement for a city where bicycle use is lower than in the rest of the Netherlands''" (cyclist union).
Education
's-Hertogenbosch has multiple vocational universities called ''Hogeschool'' in Dutch. The HAS Hogeschool of about 3,500 students is focused on agricultural and food technology. Avans Hogeschool is located in 's-Hertogenbosch and two nearby cities. The AKV St. Joost is an art academy that is now part of Avans and dates back to 1812. Fontys Hogeschool also offers some education in the city. The Jheronimus Academy of Data Science (JADS), located at the Mariënburg Campus in the center of 's-Hertogenbosch, and provides a number of data science
Data science is an interdisciplinary academic field that uses statistics, scientific computing, scientific methods, processing, scientific visualization, algorithms and systems to extract or extrapolate knowledge from potentially noisy, stru ...
programs at graduate ( MSc) and post-graduate level ( PhD). It is a department of the Eindhoven University of Technology
The Eindhoven University of Technology (), Abbreviation, abbr. TU/e, is a public university, public technical university in the Netherlands, situated in Eindhoven. In 2020–21, around 14,000 students were enrolled in its Bachelor of Science, BS ...
and Tilburg University.
In secondary education
Secondary education is the education level following primary education and preceding tertiary education.
Level 2 or ''lower secondary education'' (less commonly ''junior secondary education'') is considered the second and final phase of basic e ...
the City Gymnasium is a gymnasium (school)
''Gymnasium'' (and Gymnasium (school)#By country, variations of the word) is a term in various European languages for a secondary school that prepares students for higher education at a university. It is comparable to the US English term ''U ...
that originated from the Latin school of the city. It is comparable to a grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...
and can trace its origin back 1274. The same type of education and all other types of secondary education are offered by a number of large institutes.
Religion
Roman Catholicism is the dominant religion in 's-Hertogenbosch, with somewhat more than 40% of the population counting themselves as belonging to it. Even so, attendance at mass is significantly lower than 40%. Three churches in the city center are still in use by the Catholic church: Saint John's Cathedral, Saint Catherine and the Monastery Church of the Franciscans nearby the railway station. Smaller churches in use by the Roman Catholic church are: Saint Anne's Church in Hintham, Saint Landoline Church in Empel, Saint Willibrord Church in Maaspoort, Saint Lambert Church (Rosmalen), etc.
The Protestant religion has seen its share of believers in the city fall from 20% to about 4%. It is based in the Great Church. The Eastern Orthodox Church
The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...
is a new church in town. It is based at Saint Catherine's Church where Catholic worship services have been held again since 2021.
The Arrahma Mosque has been built by the Moroccan community. The Turkish community has the Orhan Gazi Mosque.
Notable residents
Public thinking and public service
* Erasmus
Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus ( ; ; 28 October c. 1466 – 12 July 1536), commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and Catholic theology, theologian, educationalist ...
(1484–1497), priest and humanist scholar
* Macropedius (1487–1558), a Dutch humanist, schoolmaster and Latin playwright
* John Slotanus (died 1560), a Dutch Roman Catholic polemical writer.
* Johannes Chrysostomus vander Sterre (1591–1652), an ecclesiastical writer and abbot
* Johan Bax van Herenthals (1637–1678), the governor of the Dutch Cape Colony 1676/1678
* Laurens Storm van 's Gravesande (1704–1775), governor of Essequibo and Demerara
Demerara (; , ) is a historical region in the Guianas, on the north coast of South America, now part of the country of Guyana. It was a colony of the Dutch West India Company between 1745 and 1792 and a colony of the Dutch state from 1792 unti ...
* Petrus Josephus Johannus Sophia Marie van der Does de Willebois (1843–1937), a Dutch jonkheer, politician and Mayor of 's-Hertogenbosch
* Joseph Sweens (1858–1950), an RC missionary bishop in South Nyanza in German East Africa
* Christiaan Cornelissen (1864–1942), a Dutch syndicalist writer, economist and trade unionist
* Henk Sneevliet (1883–1942), a Dutch Communist, active in both the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...
* Frans Teulings (1891–1966), a Dutch politician and economist
* Pieter Godfried Maria van Meeuwen (1899–1982), a Dutch judge and a politician
* Jan de Quay (1901–1985), a politician and psychologist; Prime Minister of the Netherlands 1959/1963
* Bert Röling (1906–1985), a Dutch jurist and founding father of polemology, the study of war
* Louis van de Laar (1921–2004), a Dutch politician and historian
* Bram Stemerdink (born 1936), a retired Dutch politician and army officer
* Don Burgers (1932–2006), a Dutch politician, mayor of 's-Hertogenbosch from 1989 to 1996
* Marco Kroon (born 1970), soldier with the Korps Commandotroepen
* Matthijs van Miltenburg (born 1972), a politician, municipal councillor 2010/2014 and MEP 2014/2019
Science and business
* Gerardus Mercator
Gerardus Mercator (; 5 March 1512 – 2 December 1594) was a Flemish people, Flemish geographer, cosmographer and Cartography, cartographer. He is most renowned for creating the Mercator 1569 world map, 1569 world map based on a new Mercator pr ...
(ca.1520–1530), a geographer, cosmographer and cartographer
* Wilhelm de Raet (ca.1537-1583), a Dutch hydraulic engineer and master builder, worked in Lucca
Città di Lucca ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its Province of Lucca, province has a population of 383,9 ...
* Willem 's Gravesande (1688–1742), a Dutch academic, mathematician and natural philosopher, developed the laws of classical mechanics
Classical mechanics is a Theoretical physics, physical theory describing the motion of objects such as projectiles, parts of Machine (mechanical), machinery, spacecraft, planets, stars, and galaxies. The development of classical mechanics inv ...
* Gerard Troost (1776–1850), a Dutch-American medical doctor, naturalist and mineralogist
* Jacob Moleschott (1822–1893), physiologist
Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out chemical and ...
and writer on dietetics and scientific materialism
* Diederik Korteweg (1848–1941), a mathematician, co-wrote the Korteweg–de Vries equation
* Jacob R. H. Neervoort van de Poll (1862–1924), an entomologist
Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...
specialising in Coleoptera
* Peter Reijnders (1900–1974), a photographer and film director; co-founded the theme park Efteling
* Frans de Waal (1948–2024), primatologist, ethologist and academic
Art
* Hieronymus Bosch
Hieronymus Bosch (; ; born Jheronimus van Aken ; – 9 August 1516) was a Dutch people, Dutch painter from Duchy of Brabant, Brabant. He is one of the most notable representatives of the Early Netherlandish painting school. His work, gene ...
(ca.1450–1516), painter of the Early Netherlandish painting
Early Netherlandish painting is the body of work by artists active in the Burgundian Netherlands, Burgundian and Habsburg Netherlands during the 15th- and 16th-century Northern Renaissance period, once known as the Flemish Primitives. It flour ...
school.
* Hubert Gerhard (ca.1540–1620), a Dutch sculptor
* Abraham van Diepenbeeck (1596–1675), a Dutch painter of the Flemish School.
* Theodoor van Thulden (1606–1669), a painter and engraver of altarpieces and portraits.
* Quirinus van Amelsfoort (1760–1820), a Dutch painter of allegories, history and portraits
* Karel Sluijterman (1863–1931), a Dutch architect, furniture designer, interior designer, illustrator, ceramist, book binding designer and professor
* Anton Sistermans (1865–1926), a Dutch baritone, singer of lieder and oratorios
* Sophie van der Does de Willebois (1891–1961), a Dutch ceramist
* Charles Bolsius (1907–1983), painter and woodworker
* Willem van den Hout (1915–1985), a Dutch writer of the Bob Evers series of children's books
* Jos van Veldhoven (born 1952), a Dutch choral conductor
* Leon de Winter (born 1954), writer and columnist IMDb Database
retrieved 10 February 2020
*
Oscar van Dillen (born 1958), a Dutch composer, conductor and instrumentalist
Sport

*
Henri Smulders (1863–1933), a sailor and team silver medallist at the
1900 Summer Olympics
The 1900 Summer Olympics (), today officially known as the Games of the II Olympiad () and also known as Paris 1900, were an international multi-sport event that took place in Paris, France, from 14 May to 28 October 1900. No opening or closin ...
*
Sjef van Run (1904–1973), a Dutch footballer, appeared 359 times for
PSV Eindhoven
Philips Sport Vereniging (; ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional association football, football department, which has pla ...
*
Wim van Heumen (1928–1992), a field hockey coach and municipal councillor 1970/1992
*
Gijs van Heumen (born 1952), a retired field hockey coach, son of
Wim
*
Cees Schapendonk (born 1955), a former football striker with over 510 club caps
*
Sophie von Weiler (born 1958), a retired Dutch field hockey forward, team gold and bronze medallist at the
1984 and
1988 Summer Olympics
The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...
*
Arnold Scholten (born 1962), a retired football midfielder with over 440 club caps
*
Marcel Brands (born 1962), a former professional footballer, former Director of Football at
Everton F.C.
*
Fred van der Hoorn (born 1963), a Dutch former footballer with over 500 club caps
*
Manon Bollegraf (born 1964), a former professional female tennis player
*
Annemarie Verstappen (born 1965), a female former freestyle swimmer, team silver and double bronze medallist at the
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...
*
Mijntje Donners (born 1974), field hockey player, with 234 caps for the Dutch National Women's Team, and team silver and bronze medallist at three Summer Olympics
*
Anthony Lurling (born 1977), a Dutch former footballer with 587 club caps
* brothers
Geert-Jan Derikx (born 1980) &
Rob Derikx (born 1982), field hockey players, team silver medallists at the
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece.
The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...
*
Henri van Opstal (born 1989), a Dutch kickboxer
*
Robin van Roosmalen (born 1989), a Dutch kickboxer and mixed martial artist
*
Maikel Scheffers (born 1982), wheelchair tennis player, bronze medallist at the
2008 Summer Paralympics
*
Andy Souwer (born 1982), a Dutch welterweight
shoot boxer and mixed martial artist
*
Maartje Goderie (born 1984), a Dutch field hockey player, twice team gold medallist at the
2008
2008 was designated as:
*International Year of Languages
*International Year of Planet Earth
*International Year of the Potato
*International Year of Sanitation
The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
and
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
*
Carlien Dirkse van den Heuvel (born 1987), a Dutch field hockey player, team gold and silver medallist at the
2012
2012 was designated as:
*International Year of Cooperatives
*International Year of Sustainable Energy for All
Events January
*January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins.
* January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
and
2016 Summer Olympics
The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...
*
Marianne Vos (born 1987), a Dutch cyclo-cross, road, track and mountain bicycle racer
*
Kenny van Gaalen (born 1988), a Dutch
sidecarcross
Sidecarcross racing, also known as sidecar motocross, is a branch of motocross. While regular motocross riders use solo machines, sidecarcross involves a different type of motorcycle chassis operated by a team of two people: a driver and a sid ...
rider
*
Toon Greebe (born 1988), a Dutch darts player
*
Patrick van Aanholt (born 1990), a Dutch professional footballer with over 280 club caps
*
Michiel van der Heijden (born 1992), a Dutch mountain biker and
Cyclo-Cross
Cyclo-cross (cyclocross, CX, cyclo-X or cross) is a form of bicycle racing. Races typically take place in the autumn and winter (the international or "World Cup" season is October–February), and consist of many laps of a short (2.5–3.5&nb ...
Rider.
Notes
References
Literature
*
External links
Official website*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hertogenbosch
1185 establishments in Europe
Cities in the Netherlands
Municipalities of North Brabant
Populated places in North Brabant
Provincial capitals of the Netherlands
Holocaust locations in the Netherlands