Binnenhof
complex of buildings in The Hague, the Netherlands
The Binnenhof (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈbɪnə(n)ˌɦɔf] ; English: Inner Court) is a complex of buildings in the city centre of The Hague, Netherlands, next to the Hofvijver (Court Pond). It houses the meeting place of both houses of the States General of the Netherlands, as well as the Ministry of General Affairs and the office of the prime minister of the Netherlands. Built primarily in the 13th century, the Gothic castle originally functioned as residence of the counts of Holland and became the political centre of the Dutch Republic in 1584. Together with the Buitenhof it is ranked among the Top 100 Dutch heritage sites. The Binnenhof is the oldest parliament building in the world still in use.
History
Comital period
Counts of Holland
Little is known about the origin of the Binnenhof. Count of Holland Floris IV purchased the grounds of the Binnenhof in 1229 from Dirk van Wassenaer and built a hunting lodge. Despite Floris IV's purchase, his successor William II is often credited with the foundation of the Binnenhof, after he became King of the Romans in 1248. Presumably, he started the building of the Ridderzaal, a great hall where the Count could receive guests. The Ridderzaal was finished under the reign of Floris V, during which the buildings were also walled in, including a gate, and the Hofkapel was built.
“Binnenhof” enters the record as complex of buildings in The Hague, the Netherlands. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Binnenhof, complex and buildings can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q863935. VIAF identifies the subject as 316592997. Authority coordinates are 52.080, 4.313. 2 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1584, 1229 and 1248.
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This entry incorporates text from “Binnenhof” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.