Rijswijk

Rijswijk, formerly known as Ryswick in English, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Its population was in , and it has an area of , of which is water.
The municipality also includes the former villages '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 formation of the village Rijswijk took place in the 13th century, and its history was dominated by presence of mansions and estates of the nobility and affluent. Among the many country estates known to have been in Rijswijk are:
Arentsburg
Burchvliet
Cromvliet
Den Burgh
De Voorde
Drievliet
's-Gravenmade
Haag- en Delftzicht
Hilvoorde
Hoekenburg
Hofrust
Hoornwijk
Huis te Werve
Huis ter Nieuwburg
Leeuwendaal
Oversteen
Overvoorde
Schoonoord
Sion
Steenvoorde
Te Blotinghe
Tollenshuis
Vredenoord
Welgelegen
Zuidhoorn
The Treaty of Ryswick was signed at the Huis ter Nieuwburg in 1697, ending the Nine Years' War. 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 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 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, this was moved to the campus of the TUDelft in Delft. 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 Palais te Rijswijk during Dutch colonial times.
Public transport
Rijswijk station
Stopplaats Rijswijk-Wateringen
Economy
Rijswijk is home to:
The Biomedical Primate Research Centre (BPRC).
The Netherlands Patent Office, at the same location as a branch of the European Patent Office.
A large technology centre of the oil company Shell, on Kessler Park.
A small part of the Dutch national Forensic Laboratory, researching clues and objects in order to aid police investigations. The main building is moved to The Hague-Ypenburg.
The Headquarters of TUI Netherlands.
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 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 residents
Public thinking and public service
Dionysius Koolen (1871–1945) a Dutch politician
Henk Beernink (1910 – 1979 in Rijswijk) a Dutch politician
Chris van Veen (1922–2009) a politician; also worked for the municipality of Rijswijk 1945/1960
Gerard Veringa (1924 – 1999 in Rijswijk) a Dutch politician and criminologist
Maurits Kiek (1909-1980) resistance fighter World War II
Johan van Benthem (born 1949) former academic logician
Albert Benschop (1949-2018) a Dutch sociologist and academic
Peter Oskam (born 1960) a Dutch politician, former football referee and judge
Sigrid Kaag (born 1961) a Dutch politician and diplomat, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development since 2017
Eelco Visser (1966-2022), professor of computer science
Arts
Adriaen van der Cabel (1630–1705) a Dutch Golden Age landscape painter
Hendrik Tollens (1780 – 1856 in Rijswijk) poet
P. J. Cosijn (1840–1899) a Dutch scholar of Anglo-Saxon literature
Jacques van Meegeren (1912–1977) a Dutch illustrator, painter and suspected art forger
Teddy Scholten (1926–2010) a Dutch singer and winner of the 1959 Eurovision Song Contest
Felix Thijssen (born 1933) author of crime and science fiction novels and books for children
Peter Slaghuis (1961–1991) a Dutch musician, DJ, producer and remixer
Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer (born 1968) a poet, novelist, polemicist and classical scholar
Sport
Louis Otten (1883–1946) football player, team bronze medallist at the 1908 Summer Olympics
Piet van der Touw (born 1940) a retired cyclist, competed at the 1960 and 1964 Summer Olympics
Richard Knopper (born 1977) a Dutch former footballer with 285 club caps
Anish Giri (born 1994) a Russian-born Dutch chess Grandmaster, lives in Rijswijk
Keye van der Vuurst de Vries (born 2001) a Dutch basketball player, made his debut for the Netherlands national basketball team aged 16
Jeffrey de Zwaan (born 1996) Dutch darts player, born in Rijswijk
Mark Caljouw (born 1995) Dutch badminton player, born in Rijswijk
References
External links
Museum Rijswijk website
Municipalities of South Holland
Populated places in South Holland