Leiden is a city and municipality in the northwest of the Dutch
province of South Holland. The Oude Rijn flows through Leiden before
it flows into the sea a little further on.
Thanks to the
cloth industry, Leiden was one of the largest cities in the Northern
Netherlands from the late Middle Ages to the 17th century. Today,
with 123,655 inhabitants (August 1, 2020) by population, it is the
fourth largest municipality in South Holland, after Rotterdam, The
Hague and Zoetermeer. Leiden is the center of an agglomeration and
urban region including Katwijk.
Leiden is known as a student
city; it has the oldest university in the Netherlands. In addition,
it is a tourist attraction, thanks to nationally known museums and
the old town with canals, monumental buildings and courtyards. The
nickname is the Key City, referring to the keys in the city's coat
of arms.
The name Leithon first appears in the goods list of the
St. Martin Church in Utrecht, which was drawn up between 777 and
866. The old spelling was Leyden. A popular but incorrect
explanation for the name Leiden is that it is derived from the Roman
settlement Lugdunum Batavorum. In reality, that settlement was not
near Leiden, but near Katwijk. This explanation dates back to 1500,
when a renewed interest in Roman times arose in the Renaissance.
Later linguistic research revealed that the name is derived from
an Old Dutch strong noun leitha that became part of Middle Dutch as
a result of attrition of inflexion. Nowadays we are used to making a
sharp distinction between natural and dug watercourses - the latter
we commonly call canals. In reality, the difference is gradual. As
far back as the Middle Ages, a great deal of tinkering and tinkering
was done on the course of rivers, for example by cutting bends to
facilitate drainage or navigation. A summary term for such partly or
completely dug or dug watercourses is the word lede, which
originally has the same root as the plural unfinished tense of
'suffering', in the sense of 'going' as in (water) corridor. We find
this 'party' in many place names: Leerdam ('dam in the party'),
Haarlemmerliede ('party in the direction of Haarlem'), Schipluiden
('party navigating with ships') and, for example, Westerlee
('western party party').
Bent in dative pluralis one obtains
from leitha then leithon, and the meaning thus becomes at the
(dative) + waters (plural). This meaning is in keeping with the
situation of old Leiden, which was not located on a single river or
watering, but on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite where the Mare
flows into the Rhine, which flows from east to west, while the Mare
de waterway to the North.
The Leiden
coat of arms consists of a white or silver shield with two crossed
red keys. The coat of arms refers to Saint Peter, the patron saint
of the city and namesake of the main church, the Pieterskerk. Peter
is said to have received the keys of heaven from Jesus and is thus
in the view of the Roman Catholic Church the founder of the papacy,
that is to say that, after the ascension of Jesus, he was his vicar
(not: substitute) on Earth, as well as subsequent popes. That is why
keys comparable to those of Leiden appear in the coat of arms of the
Vatican.
The official coat of arms of Leiden was established
by Royal Decree of January 25, 1950. It shows a fighting red lion on
a fortress wall with the Latin motto "Haec libertatis ergo" (This
for the sake of freedom), which refers to the time of the Dutch
resistance against the Spaniards in the sixteenth century. The
lion's left claw rests on a silver shield with two crossed red keys.
In his right claw is a raised silver sword with gold hilt.
The flag of Leiden, with a ratio of 3: 2, consists of three equal
horizontal stripes in the colors red-white-red. On the side of the
flagpole is a white circle containing the two crossed red keys from
the coat of arms. The flag was adopted by the city council in 1949.
The city originated as a dike village on the south
side opposite an artificial hill at the confluence of the Old and
New Rhine. The oldest mention of this, around 860, mentions the then
village of Leithon. The castle located on this hill initially housed
a feudalist of the bishop of Utrecht, but around 1100 the castle
came into the hands of the count of Holland. The favorably located
settlement received confirmation of the earlier granted city rights
in 1266 and with its flourishing cloth industry developed into one
of the largest cities in the county of Holland. In 1389, when the
population had grown to about 4000, the city had to be expanded with
the district between Rapenburg (previously the southern edge of the
city) and the Witte Singel.
During the Hoekse and Kabeljauwse
disputes Leiden was besieged several times, the city was conquered
in 1420 by Duke John of Bavaria and in 1481 by Emperor Maximilian.
On March 1, 1512, the more than 100 meters high tower of the
Pieterskerk collapsed in a storm. The tower, one of the tallest in
the Netherlands, was never rebuilt.
Despite all these
troubles, Leiden had grown by 1514 into by far the largest city in
Holland, with about 14,000 inhabitants. Subsequently, stagnation
occurred due to, among other things, competition from the rural
industry, which supplied cheaper textiles than the Leiden guilds.
In 1572 the city sided with the anti-Spanish revolt. The Spanish
Governor Requesens besieged the city in 1574. About a third of the
15,000 inhabitants lost their lives during the siege. After the
siege was repulsed - the relief of Leiden on 3 October 1574 - the
city was given the first university in the Netherlands in 1575 with
Leiden University. The statement given in many sources that
Stadholder William of Orange thus expressed his gratitude to the
people of Leiden is somewhat questionable. Willem had a political /
administrative reason for the establishment of a university: the
need for well-educated faithful. The university's motto is
Praesidium Libertatis, which means 'stronghold of freedom'.
In the 17th century the city flourished again, thanks to the impetus
that refugees from the Southern Netherlands gave to the cloth
industry with their knowledge of techniques for making lighter
cloth. In 1622 the city had grown to 45,000 inhabitants and by 1670
it even reached a number of nearly 70,000. In the Golden Age, Leiden
was the second largest city in the Netherlands after Amsterdam.
Population growth made the construction of new canals and canals
necessary. The current center of Leiden, recognizable by its single
pattern, was completed in 1659.
In the 18th century the
textile industry fell into decline, due to protectionist measures in
France and wages, which had to be relatively high in the province of
Holland due to the cost of living. The result was a steady decline
in the population of Leiden, which had fallen to 30,000 at the end
of the 18th century and would reach a low of 27,000 around 1815.
On January 12, 1807, the Leiden gunpowder disaster took place,
in which about 150 civilians were killed. King Louis Napoleon
personally visited the city to coordinate aid to the victims. The
Van der Werfpark and the Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory were later
built on the site of the "ruin" caused by the explosion.
In
1842 the railway to Haarlem, very important for Leiden, was put into
use. In 1866 the city was hit by the last major epidemic (cholera).
This led to the start of the construction of the new Academic
Hospital in 1868. In 1883 not only Leiden, but also the rest of the
Netherlands, was startled by the news of the arrest of Maria
Swanenburg, nicknamed Goeie Mie, a poison mixer who had killed at
least 27 victims in a few years. Partly thanks to the railroad, the
desolate socio-economic situation had improved in the 19th century,
but the population had still not risen far above 50,000 by 1900. It
was not until 1896 that Leiden began to expand beyond the
17th-century canals.
During the Second World War, Leiden was
severely hit by Allied bombing. The area surrounding the station and
the Marewijk (nowadays the area around the Schuttersveld and
Schipholweg) were almost completely razed to the ground. The
historic center was spared.
Leiden today presents itself
primarily as a center of scientific knowledge and new technology. In
addition, tourism also plays an increasingly important role in this
historic fortified city.
Leiden has its own canon. The Leiden
Canon tells the history of Leiden on the basis of 35 important
historical topics.
Leiden has more than 1,250 national monuments, 1,550 municipal
monuments, 4,550 iconic buildings and 2 archaeological monuments.
The center within the canals is the second largest historic city
center in the Netherlands and also designated as a protected
cityscape. Since 2011, Leiden has also had a second protected
cityscape: the southern shell.
The historical center is
formed by the Burcht van Leiden, a motte-and-bailey castle at the
confluence of two arms of the Rhine. There is an extensive canal
belt around the Burcht, with a total of 88 bridges within the canal.
The Leidse Loper is a walk along 24 historical sights in the center
of Leiden.
Two of the most important civil buildings are
located on Breestraat: the Town Hall, adorned by the widest
Renaissance facade in the Netherlands, and the Gemeenlandshuis van
Rijnland, which for a long time housed the Rijnland water board.
Still other buildings bear witness to the industrial and commercial
history of the city, such as the Waag, the Koornbrug and a few dozen
monumental weavers' houses. One weaver's house can be viewed from
the inside as a museum. The university has also left a visible mark
on the city center over the centuries. Noteworthy are the Academy
Building at the Rapenburg, with behind it the Hortus Botanicus and
the visitor center of the Old Observatory, and the Kamerlingh Onnes
Building of the Faculty of Law at the Steenschuur.
The two
largest churches are the Pieterskerk, the largest church building in
Leiden, and the Hooglandse Kerk, the largest church in Leiden still
in use. The Marekerk (1649) is located on the Lange Mare. The design
of this church (1639) follows that of a domed church; an octagonal
central building with benches around the pulpit. Although this
church is now the oldest church in Holland built for Protestant
worship, that honor actually goes to the domed church of Willemstad
(1607), which at that time belonged to the county of Holland. The
church was designed by Arent van 's-Gravesande. There are also the
Heilige Lodewijkkerk, the first Catholic church in Leiden built
after the Reformation, and the Hartebrugkerk, also known as the
Coeli church by the people of Leiden, a catholic water management
church in neoclassical style.
Within and outside the center,
Leiden has nine windmills, 35 courtyards and two city gates: the
Morspoort on the northwest side and the Zijlpoort on the northeast
side of the city center. The Doelenpoort is located within the canal
belt and served as the gateway to the training grounds of the Leidse
Schutterij. There are a number of war memorials in the city.
The approximately 6.5 km long outer canal belt of Leiden (the canal
pattern) is still completely intact. The former walls and bulwarks
now mainly serve as green areas. There are parks, old cemeteries and
the Witte Singel runs around the hortus botanicus and the
Observatory. The Zijlsingel is characterized by the Meelfabriek
complex which, together with the former "Lichtfabriek" on the
Langegracht, is one of the few remaining major monuments of the
city's industrial past.
Leiden is home to a number
of important museums:
Royal Museum of Antiquities
Museum of
Ethnology
Naturalis
Rijksmuseum Boerhaave (history of science)
Municipal Museum De Lakenhal (visual art and history)
Hortus
botanicus Leiden, the oldest botanical garden in the Netherlands
SieboldHuis, the first worldwide Japan collection
Textile
Research Center
Leiden American Pilgrim Museum
With the Trianon on the Breestraat and
Lido on the Steenstraat, Leiden has two cinemas where the larger
film productions are screened. There is also a movie house: Het
Kijkhuis on the Vrouwenkerksteeg. The Leiden Film Festival is
organized every year at the end of October.
The
Stadsgehoorzaal on Breestraat is the main concert hall. Since 2009,
it has been expanded with a new hall on Aalmarkt.
The largest
theater location is the Leidse Schouwburg on the Oude Vest from
1705, the oldest theater in the Netherlands. Other locations for
theater, dance and visual arts are the Imperium Theater and the
Scheltema Complex.
In Leiden, various statues, sculptures and
objects have been placed in public space, such as the Liberation
Monument. As part of the "Dicht op de Muur" project, the TEGEN-BEELD
foundation has depicted 101 poems on just as many Leiden walls. It
concerns various poems in many languages, which pay attention to the
international character of the city. An important event in the field
of performing arts is the Leids Cabaret Festival, which has been
organized since 1978.
Well-known, Leiden-born artists include DJs Armin van Buuren and
Joost van Bellen, cabaret performer Jochem Myjer, Zangeres Zonder
Naam and Catapult / Rubber Robbie. Leiden also has a number of music
bands such as Xenomorph, Leidse Sleutelgaten, Sneu! and the
children's choir De Leidse Sleuteltjes.
Leiden has several
major music bands, including Kunst en Genoegen (K&G), which has won
several world championships.
As a book city,
Leiden has a number of important libraries:
Bibliotheca Thysiana,
since 1655
Leiden University Library, the oldest University
Library in the Netherlands
the Libraries Leiden & Leiderdorp, the
public library
Leiden is located in the north of the province of South Holland,
about 45 km southwest of Amsterdam and about 18 km northeast of The
Hague.
The Oude Rijn flows through Leiden. The Nieuwe Rijn
splits off on the outskirts of the city to reunite with the Oude
Rijn in the city center. The Rijn-Schie Canal and the Zijl also
branch off from Leiden towards the south and north respectively.
Clockwise from the north, Leiden successively borders the
municipalities of Teylingen, Leiderdorp, Zoeterwoude,
Leidschendam-Voorburg, Voorschoten, Wassenaar, Katwijk and
Oegstgeest. Via Teylingen, Leiden borders on the Bollenstreek.
Until 1896, the Singel formed the city border. In four
annexations (1896, 1920, 1966 and 1981), Leiden took over land from
the surrounding municipalities Oegstgeest, Leiderdorp, Zoeterwoude,
Voorschoten / Wassenaar and Warmond. In 1981 the city was 12 times
the size of 85 years earlier.
Especially in the city center, water is an
important part of the street scene. In addition to the Old and New
Rhine, which form the center line, the city has various canals and
canals. The most famous canal is the Rapenburg. Outside the center,
besides the Rhine, rivers, canals and former canal canals such as
the Zijl, the Haarlemmertrekvaart and the Trekvliet, connect the
city with large water and recreation areas just outside the city
such as Vlietland, the Kagerplassen and the Valkenburgse Meer.
The canals also form an important green area for the city, where
various parks such as the Plantsoen, Ankerpark, Huigpark and the
Hortus Botanicus have been constructed on the site of the former
city walls. Outside the city center, the Leidse Hout has a large
city park and smaller neighborhood and neighborhood parks such as
Bos van Bosman and Park Merenwijk with a petting zoo.
Cronesteyn polder park is located on the southeast side of the city,
on the site of former Castle Cronesteyn. This park consists of
various cultural landscapes and it has a heron forest. There is also
a visitor center and a mini campsite. The city is connected to the
Green Heart through this park.
The connected urban area of Leiden (including Oegstgeest, Voorschoten, Leiderdorp and Zoeterwoude) has 210,363 inhabitants. The urban agglomeration defined by Statistics Netherlands also includes Katwijk, with which the Leiden agglomeration has 270,879 inhabitants. The urban region of Leiden (CBS) also includes Teylingen and Noordwijk, with which the entire urban area of Leiden has a total of 348,868 inhabitants. With 5,646 inhabitants per square kilometer, the city of Leiden has been the most densely populated municipality in the Netherlands since 2014, after The Hague.
Leiden is represented in at least 18 regional collaborations, each of which has a different composition.