The oldest station in The Hague is Den Haag Hollands Spoor on the main line from Amsterdam to Rotterdam, opened in 1843 by the Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij (Dutch Iron Railroad Company). This station was built at some distance from the city center. In 1870, the Nederlandsche Rhijnspoorweg-Maatschappij (Dutch Rhine-railroad Company) opened a second station in the Hague, Den Haag Rijnspoor for trains to Gouda and Utrecht. This station was built much closer to the city centre. From 1888 this railroad was the property of the Maatschappij tot Exploitatie van Staatsspoorwegen (State Railway Operation Company); the station was renamed Den Haag Staatsspoor.
In the 1970s, Nederlandse Spoorwegen decided to build Centraal Station in The Hague. The best location seemed to be the Hollands Spoor-station, as this was the station for mainline trains between Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Nevertheless, The Hague wanted the station to be at the location of the Staatsspoor-station, so the new Centraal Station was built right next to it. At the moment this was completed and in use, the old station was demolished. Connecting tracks were built to connect the line from Amsterdam to Den Haag Centraal. Although The Hague now has a Central Station, only trains for which The Hague is the final destination halt here. Still, all Intercity- and international trains between Amsterdam and Rotterdam only halt at Hollands Spoor. Nowadays, The Hague is the only city in the Netherlands which still has two major train stations. (Extracted from the site of "Wikipedia")
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In 1631, army officer John Maurice, Prince of Nassau-Siegen (1604–1679), who was a cousin of stadtholder Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange, bought a plot bordering the Binnenhof and the adjacent pond named Hofvijver (English: "Court's Pond") in The Hague, Holland, Dutch Republic. At that time, The Hague was the political center of the Dutch Republic and the States-General assembled in the Binnenhof. The Mauritshuis was named after Prince John Maurice and was built between 1636 and 1641, the period when he was the governor of Dutch Brazil. The Dutch Classicist building was designed by the Dutch architects Jacob van Campen and Pieter Post. The two-storey building is strictly symmetrical contained four apartments and a great hall. Each apartment was designed with an antechamber, a chamber, a cabinet, and a cloakroom. Originally, the building had a cupola, which was destroyed in a fire in 1704. After the death of Prince John Maurice in 1679, the house was owned by the Maes family, who leased the house to the Dutch government. In 1704, most of the interior of the Mauritshuis was destroyed by fire. The building was restored between 1708 and 1718. In 1820, the Mauritshuis was bought by the Dutch state for the purpose of housing the Royal Cabinet of Paintings.
In 1822, the Mauritshuis was opened for the public and housed the Royal Cabinet of Paintings and the Royal Cabinet of Rarities. In 1875, the entire museum was available for paintings. The Mauritshuis was a state museum until it was privatised in 1995. The foundation set up at that time took charge of both the building and the collection, which it was given on long-term loan. This building, which is the property of the state, is rented by the museum. The museum collaborates regularly with museums in other countries. In 2007, the museum had almost 250,000 visitors.
The collection of paintings of stadtholder William V, Prince of Orange was handed over to the Dutch state by his son king William I. This collection formed the basis of the Royal Cabinet of Paintings of around 200 paintings. The collection is currently called the Royal Picture Gallery. The current collection consists of almost 800 paintings and focusses on Dutch and Flemish artists, such as Pieter Brueghel, Paulus Potter ("The bull" [ca. 1647]), Pieter Paul Rubens, Rembrandt van Rijn ("Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp" [ca. 1632], etc.), Jacob van Ruisdael, Johannes Vermeer ("Girl with a Pearl Earring" [ca. 1665], etc.), and Rogier van der Weyden. There are also works of Hans Holbein in the collection in the Mauritshuis. (Extracted from the site of "Wikipedia")
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The grounds on which the Binnenhof now stands were purchased by Count Floris IV of Holland in 1229, where he built his mansion, next to the little lake that has been called Hofvijver or 'Court Pond' since the 13th century. More buildings were constructed around the court, several of which are well known in their own right, such as the Ridderzaal (Great hall; literally Knight's Hall), where the queen holds her annual speech at Prinsjesdag. One of the towers, simply known as het Torentje ('the Little Tower'; directly next to the Mauritshuis museum) has been the office of the Prime Minister of the Netherlands since 1982.
This 'Inner Court' is studded with monumental old buildings testifying of eight centuries of governing in the Low Countries, but it also has several ample open spaces, all freely open to the public. A gilt neo-gothic fountain adorns the main square and one of the few Dutch equestrian statues (of King William II) guards the main Stadtholder's Gate, that dates from around 1600. A large modern building at the south side of the Binnenhof since 1992 houses the House of Representatives, the lower but more important of the Dutch democratically elected Houses of parliament. (Extracted from the site of "Wikipedia")
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