Rijswijk (), formerly known as Ryswick ( ) in English, is a town and municipality in the western

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 ...

, in the province of

South Holland South Holland ( ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.8 million as of January 2023 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely populated areas. ...

. Its population was 59.642 in 2024, and it has an area of , of which is water. The municipality also includes the former hamlets of 't Haantje and Sion, currently also known as Rijswijk Buiten.

Demographics

62% Dutch background, 38% No Dutch background.

History

Archeological excavations indicate that this area of the coastal dunes was already inhabited some 5500 years ago. The village of Rijswijk formed in the 13th century, and its history was dominated by the presence of mansions and estates of the nobility and affluent. The

Treaty of Ryswick The Peace of Ryswick, or Rijswijk, was a series of treaties signed in the Dutch city of Rijswijk between 20 September and 30 October 1697. They ended the 1688 to 1697 Nine Years' War between France and the Grand Alliance, which included the Dutc ...

was signed at the Huis ter Nieuwburg in 1697, ending the

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War was a European great power conflict from 1688 to 1697 between Kingdom of France, France and the Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg), Grand Alliance. Although largely concentrated in Europe, fighting spread to colonial poss ...

. A monument, the Needle of Rijswijk (1792), was erected to commemorate the treaty in the Rijswijk Forest. Until 1900 Rijswijk remained a relative small community but it became urbanized during the 20th century when it expanded rapidly. Today, Rijswijk's area has almost been completely built-up. The last major development is the new

Ypenburg Leidschenveen-Ypenburg () is a Vinex-location and district of The Hague, 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 ...

neighbourhood, built on the lands of the former Ypenburg Airfield but this part of Rijswijk was annexed by The Hague in 2002. Rijswijk is part of the

Haaglanden :''Parts of this article have been translated from the Dutch version of this page'' Haaglanden (, literally ''Haguelands'') was a conurbation surrounding The Hague in the Netherlands from 1992 until 2015. The city's position as the country's se ...

conurbation. During the years its built-up area has grown to the point where it has effectively merged with The Hague, even though it is still a separate municipality. Up until 2009 Rijswijk had a polytechnic college for applied sciences; TH Rijswijk (Technische Hogeschool Rijswijk). After a merger with the

Haagse Hogeschool The Hague University of Applied Sciences (abbreviated as: ''THUAS''; ) is a university of applied sciences with its campuses located in The Hague, Delft and Zoetermeer. The main campus in The Hague is located behind The Hague Hollands Spoor ra ...

, this was moved to the campus of the TUDelft in

Delft Delft () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, ...

. The building still remains. Istana Negara, one of the six presidential palaces of Indonesia, in the Jakarta neighbourhood of Harmoni (formerly Rijswijk-Molenvliet), was called ''Paleis te Rijswijk'' during Dutch colonial times.

Public transport

Rijswijk Rijswijk (), formerly known as Ryswick ( ) in English, is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Its population was 59.642 in 2024, and it has an area of , of which is water. The municipality also i ...

station *Stopplaats Rijswijk-Wateringen

Economy

Rijswijk is home to: *The

Biomedical Primate Research Centre The Biomedical Primate Research Centre (BPRC) is Europe's largest primate animal testing research centre. It is a scientific research institute that performs research that contributes to the identification and development of new medicines against ...

(BPRC). *The

Netherlands Patent Office The Netherlands Patent Office () is the patent office of the Netherlands. It is an agency of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs. The agency is located in the premises of the European Patent Office (EPO), in Rijswijk, near The Hague.Netherlands ...

, at the same location as a branch of the

European Patent Office The European Patent Office (EPO) is one of the two organs of the European Patent Organisation (EPOrg), the other being the Administrative Council. The EPO acts as executive body for the organisation

. *A small part of the Dutch national Forensic Laboratory, researching clues and objects in order to aid police investigations. The main building has moved to The Hague-Ypenburg. * The Headquarters of TUI Netherlands. * The CBR (Centraal Bureau Rijvaardigheidsbewijzen) a Dutch company for the driving lessons.

Recreation

*Parks: Hoekpolder, Plaspoelpolder, Schaapweipolder, Hoge Broekpolder, Noordpolder, Park Overvoorde, Wilhelminapark, Elsenburgerbos, Park Steenvoorde. *Natural swimming location De Put *Rijswijkse Schouwburg, which hosts many national theatre shows. *The Von Fisenne

Park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

has a petting zoo. *Sports park 'De Schilp' has an indoor swimming pool. *Museum Rijswijk located at Herenstraat 67, 2282 BR Rijswijk, which has many works of art The largest shopping center is called 'In de Bogaard' and smaller shops are located in the old town center (Herenstraat). There is the old Schaapweimolen (windmill). De Broodfabriek holds many fairs and events.

Notable people

Public service

* Dionysius Koolen (1871–1945) a Dutch politician *

Henk Beernink Hendrik Karel Jan "Henk" Beernink (2 February 1910 – 22 August 1979) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Christian Historical Union (CHU) party now merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and jurist. Biography Beernink a ...

(1910–1979 in Rijswijk) a Dutch politician *

Chris van Veen Christiaan "Chris" van Veen (19 December 1922 – 9 November 2009) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Christian Historical Union (CHU) party now merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and trade association executive. Biogr ...

(1922–2009) a politician; also worked for the municipality of Rijswijk 1945/1960 *

Gerard Veringa Gerard Heinrich Veringa (13 April 1924 – 29 December 1999) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Catholic People's Party (KVP) now merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and criminologist.Maurits Kiek (1909–1980) resistance fighter World War II * Peter Oskam (born 1960) a Dutch politician, former football referee and judge *

Sigrid Kaag Sigrid Agnes Maria Kaag (; born 2 November 1961) is a Dutch politician, humanitarian and diplomat who is the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process since 2025 and the Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Ga ...

(born 1961) a Dutch politician and diplomat, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development since 2017

Arts and learning

Adriaen van der Cabel Adriaen van der Cabel or Ary van der Touw (1631 – 16 June 1705), was a Dutch Golden Age landscape painter active in France and Italy. Biography He was born and grew up in the small town of Rijswijk, near The Hague. Cabel was also known as ...

(1630–1705) a

Dutch Golden Age The Dutch Golden Age ( ) was a period in the history of the Netherlands which roughly lasted from 1588, when the Dutch Republic was established, to 1672, when the '' Rampjaar'' occurred. During this period, Dutch trade, scientific development ...

landscape painter *

Hendrik Tollens Henricus Franciscus Caroluszoon (Hendrik) Tollens (24 September 1780 – 31 October 1856) was a Dutch poet best known for ''Wien Neêrlands Bloed ''Wien Neêrlands bloed'' (''Those in whom Dutch blood'') was the national anthem of the Netherl ...

(1780–1856 in Rijswijk) poet * P. J. Cosijn (1840–1899) a Dutch scholar of

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

literature *

Jacques van Meegeren Jacques Henri Emil van Meegeren (August 26, 1912 – October 26, 1977) was a Dutch illustrator and painter. He is known for forging the work of his father, Han van Meegeren, who was a famous forger himself. Life Youth On August 26, 1912, V ...

(1912–1977) a Dutch illustrator, painter and suspected art forger *

Teddy Scholten Dorothea Margaretha "Teddy" Scholten (; 11 May 1926 – 8 April 2010) was a Dutch singer and television presenter. She is known for winning the Eurovision Song Contest 1959 with the song " Een beetje", representing the Netherlands. Career In ...

(1926–2010) a Dutch singer and winner of the 1959 Eurovision Song Contest * Felix Thijssen (1933–2022) author of crime and science fiction novels and books for children * Johan van Benthem (born 1949) former academic logician * Albert Benschop (1949–2018) a Dutch sociologist and academic *

Peter Slaghuis Peter Slaghuis (; 21 August 1961 – 5 September 1991) was a Dutch DJ, record producer and remixer, whose work was mostly released under the name Hithouse (a literal translation of his last name — ''slag'', a hit, a beat; and ''huis'', house). ...

(1961–1991) a Dutch musician, DJ, producer and remixer * Eelco Visser (1966–2022), professor of computer science *

Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer (born 17 January 1968) is a Dutch poet, novelist, polemicist and classical scholar. He was born in Rijswijk, Netherlands, and studied, lived and worked in Leiden, and he moved permanently to Genoa, Italy, in 2008. Biogra ...

(born 1968) a poet, novelist, polemicist and classical scholar Piet van der Touw

Sport

* Louis Otten (1883–1946) football player, team bronze medallist at the

1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were originally schedu ...

* Piet van der Touw (born 1940) a retired cyclist, competed at the

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

and

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subseq ...

Richard Knopper Richard Knopper (born 29 August 1977) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Club career Born in Rijswijk, Knopper began his career with Feyenoord but, still in his youth, moved to rivals Ajax, making hi ...

(born 1977) a Dutch former footballer with 285 club caps *

Anish Giri Anish Kumar Giri (; ; born 28 June 1994) is a Dutch chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves no hidden information and no elements of chance. It is played on ...

(born 1994) a Russian-born Dutch chess Grandmaster, lives in Rijswijk *

Keye van der Vuurst de Vries Keye van der Vuurst de Vries (born 29 December 2001) is a Dutch basketball player for Club Joventut Badalona, Joventut Badalona of the Spanish Liga ACB. He is the youngest player to ever play in the Netherlands national basketball team, as he made ...

(born 2001) a Dutch basketball player, made his debut for the

Netherlands national basketball team The Netherlands men's national basketball team () represents the Netherlands in international basketball matches. The national team is governed by Basketball Nederland. The Dutch have reached the European Basketball Championship on 16 occasi ...

aged 16 *

Jeffrey de Zwaan Jeffrey de Zwaan (born 26 March 1996) is a Dutch professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He has won two PDC Players Championship events. He reached his first major semi-final at the 2018 World Matc ...

(born 1996) Dutch darts player, born in Rijswijk *

Mark Caljouw Mark Caljouw (born 25 January 1995) is a Dutch badminton player. He started playing badminton aged eight, at BC Randstad in Rijswijk. Career Caljouw was selected to join the national team in 2008, and made a debut in international senior tour ...

(born 1995) Dutch badminton player, born in Rijswijk

References

External links

*
Museum Rijswijk website
{{Authority control Municipalities of South Holland Populated places in South Holland