Leidschenveen-Ypenburg () is a Vinex-location and district of

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

, located in the southeast. It is geographically connected to the main body of the city by only a narrow corridor. It consists of four quarters: Hoornwijk and Ypenburg on the southwest of the A12 motorway and parallel railway to

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 ...

, and Forepark and Leidschenveen on the northeast. Since 2005 the district has its own railway station, Den Haag Ypenburg, situated on the Gouda–Den Haag railway. Two highway nodes are located in the district: Knooppunt Ypenburg and the Prins Clausplein.

History

Until 1992 Ypenburg was a military airfield known as Ypenburg Airport. It was the site of the Battle for The Hague on 10 May 1940, at the beginning of

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 ...

. German forces took over the airfield via an airborne landing, with the goal of apprehending Dutch government officials and the Queen. This failed however and Dutch forces recaptured the airfield. 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 ...

eventually surrendered to Germany however, and the

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

made no use of the airfield during the remainder of the war. Very little remains of the airport today, the former air traffic control tower being a notable exception. After the war the field remained a civilian airport until 1955, when it was turned into an Air Base. After 1968, operations decreased significantly; the Air Base was used mainly as a VIP airport for politicians and the

royal family A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while th ...

. In 1982 it was decided to close the Air Base, but it was not until 1992 that it was abandoned by the Royal Netherlands Air Force. In 1997 the new residential area was constructed on the site of the airport. Initially, Leidschenveen belonged to the municipality Leidschendam, whereas Ypenburg fell under Nootdorp and Rijswijk. These parts were merged and annexed by The Hague municipality in 2002.

External links

Webportal
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Webportal for Ypenburg
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Webportal for Leidschenveen
{{coord, 52, 03, 11, N, 4, 23, 38, E, display=title, region:NL_source:nlwiki Boroughs of The Hague