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Koninklijke Schouwburg

building in The Hague, Netherlands

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 30, 2026
Entity authorityQ2040000 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Koninklijke Schouwburg (literally translated: Royal Theater or Royal Playhouse) is a theater in the city center of The Hague. The theater was built in 1766 and has been in use as theater since 1804. From 2017 it is one of the theaters in use by the national theater company Het Nationale Theater, but also other companies perform in the Schouwburg.

The main room of the Schouwburg is relatively small for current standards, and can seat 680 people in total with the main room and three balconies. The stage has a 1929 antique revolving stage that is still functional but no longer in use. It is considered one of the most prestigious theaters in the country.

Little city palace

In 1766 Charles Christian, Prince of Nassau-Weilburg, brother in law of stadtholder William V, ordered the construction of a little city palace at the Korte Voorhout for his 23 year old wife Princess Carolina of Orange-Nassau and himself. He gave the assignment to Pieter de Swart, who studied for two years in Paris, paid for by stadtholder William IV. De Swart was also responsible for several other prominent buildings in The Hague, such as the former Royal Library, the Lange Voorhout Palace and the Lutheran church. De Swart drafted a design in neo-Louis XIV style for a 77 meter wide and three stories high building around a semicircular cour d'honneur. At the front of the building, from left to right, a billiard room, bed room, cabinet and antichambre would be located.

Editorial summary

“Koninklijke Schouwburg” enters the record as building in The Hague, Netherlands. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Koninklijke, Schouwburg and building can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewMost useful as a place-based finding aid connecting the present description to earlier jurisdictions, maps and built evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1766, 1804, 2017, 1929—that can be checked directly. The authority record carries competing date values—1804, 1990, 1999—which should remain separate until their references and qualifiers are resolved. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Koninklijke, Schouwburg and building.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Koninklijke Schouwburg” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Koninklijke, Schouwburg and building provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2040000. Authority coordinates are 52.082, 4.315. 4 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 3 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1766, 1804, 2017 and 1929.

Critical limits

A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Koninklijke Schouwburg”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Koninklijke Schouwburg primary sources, Koninklijke Schouwburg archive and Koninklijke research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Koninklijke Schouwburg”?
  2. Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
  3. What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Koninklijke Schouwburg” 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.