The Torentje ( Dutch: ''Het Torentje''; English: "The Little Tower"), located at the

Binnenhof The Binnenhof (; en, Inner Court) is a complex of buildings in the city centre of The Hague, Netherlands, next to the Hofvijver lake. It houses the meeting place of both houses of the States General of the Netherlands, as well as the Ministr ...

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's ad ...

next to the

Mauritshuis The Mauritshuis (; en, Maurice House) is an art museum in The Hague, Netherlands. The museum houses the Royal Cabinet of Paintings which consists of 854 objects, mostly Dutch Golden Age paintings. The collection contains works by Johannes Vermeer ...

museum, has been the official office of the

Prime Minister of the Netherlands The prime minister of the Netherlands ( nl, Minister-president van Nederland) is the head of the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands. Although the monarch is the ''de jure'' head of government, the prime minister ''de facto'' ...

since 1982.

History

This small octagonal building at the

Hofvijver The Hofvijver (; en, Court Pond) is a lake in the centre of The Hague, Netherlands. It is adjoined in the east by the Korte Vijverberg (road), in the south by the Binnenhof and the Mauritshuis, in the west by the Buitenhof and in the nort ...

is first mentioned in chronicles in 1354 and probably dates from the first half of the 14th century. At the edge of the Parliament Buildings was originally a summer

gazebo A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal or turret-shaped, often built in a park, garden or spacious public area. Some are used on occasions as bandstands. Etymology The etymology given by Oxford Dictionaries is "Mid 18th ce ...

for

Counts of Holland The counts of Holland ruled over the County of Holland in the Low Countries between the 10th and the 16th century. House of Holland The first count of Holland, Dirk I, was the son or foster-son of Gerolf, Count in Frisia (Dijkstra suggests ...

. It was connected by a drawbridge with the count's garden. At the site of this garden, later east of the Tower the

was built around 1640 as the residence for

John Maurice, Prince of Nassau-Siegen John Maurice of Nassau ( Dutch: ''Johan Maurits van Nassau-Siegen''; German: ''Johann Moritz von Nassau-Siegen''; Portuguese: ''João Maurício de Nassau-Siegen''; 17 June 1604 – 20 December 1679), called "the Brazilian" for his fruitful period ...

. Today the

is a museum.

Usage

West of the Tower is the

and the Grenadiers Gate, that gives access to Parliament Buildings. Directly opposite the Tower are offices of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

. On the ground floor in the Tower there is small meeting room. The first floor houses the office of the

and the Minister of General Affairs. The Tower is part of the portfolio of the "Rijksgebouwendienst". It was first used as the office of the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Ruud Lubbers Rudolphus Franciscus Marie "Ruud" Lubbers (; 7 May 1939 – 14 February 2018) was a Dutch politician, diplomat and businessman who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1982 to 1994, and as United Nations High Commissioner for Refu ...

when he became

in 1982, before that it was used by the

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

as his main office.Premier Rutte in het Haagse torentje
, NOS, October 14, 2010 File:Mark Rutte Torentje 2012.jpg, Interior

Mark Rutte Mark Rutte (; born 14 February 1967) is a Dutch politician who has served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands since 2010 and Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) since 2006. After a business career working for Unileve ...

at his desk in 2012 File:Mark Rutte Torentje 2012-2.jpg, Interior

and staff in 2012 File:Den Haag, het Mauritshuis RM17650 foto5 2015-08-05 19.06.jpg, Exterior
seen from the

in 2015 File:Den Haag - panoramio (198).jpg, Exterior
seen from the

in 2012 File:Departement van Binnenlandse Zaken - 's-Gravenhage - 20327077 - RCE.jpg, Exterior
seen from the

in 1913

References

External links

* *
Ministry of General Affairs
(Government.nl) {{coord, 52, 4, 49, N, 4, 18, 50, E, source:nlwiki_type:city_scale:29000_region:NL, display=title Government buildings in the Netherlands Tourist attractions in South Holland Towers in The Hague