Scheveningen

Scheveningen is part of Den Haag. It is a modern bathing resort with a long sandy beach. A nudist section is 1 km to the north. The harbour is used both for fishing and tourism. Annual events include the annual winter swim[?] on new years day and the flags day in spring when the first new herring of the year is auctioned.

History

The oldest reference to the name 'Sceveninghe' goes back to around 1280. The first inhabitants may have been Anglo Saxon. Other historians favor a Scandinavian origin. Fishing was the main source of food and income.

A road with Den Haag was constructed 1663 (current name: Scheveningseweg).

In 1470 a heavy storm destroyed the church and half of all houses. The village was again hit by storm on November 1, 1570, in 1775, 1825, 1860, 1881 and in 1894. After this last storm the people decided to build a harbor, until then the fishing ships had a flat bottom ('bomschuiten'), and were pulled upon the beach. Around 1870 over 150 such ships were in use.

When the harbor had been realized in 1904, more modern ships replaced the 'bomschuiten'.

In 1818 a man called Jacob Pronk built a wooden building on a dune near the sea, from where people could bath from 4 separate rooms. It marked the start of Scheveningen as a bathing place.

The Kurhaus was opened in 1886.

The name Scheveningen has been used as a shibboleth during wartime to identify German spies: They would pronounce the initial "Sch" differently from Dutch native speakers.