Leiden

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Leiden

"Leyden" redirects here. For other uses, see Leyden (disambiguation).

Nl-Leiden.ogg (in English also – though now rarely – Leyden) is a city and municipality in South Holland, The Netherlands. It forms a single urban area with Oegstgeest, Leiderdorp and Voorschoten. It is located on the Old Rhine, close to the cities of The Hague and Haarlem.

Its geographical coordinates are (in decimals: 52.16N, 4.49E). RD coordinates (94, 464).

A university town since 1575, Leiden houses:

History

Although it is true that Leiden is an old city, its claimed connection with Roman Lugdunum Batavorum is spurious; this Roman encampment is actually the modern town of Katwijk. However, there was a Roman fortress in Leiden in the 4th century. Leiden's medieval name was Leithon, and it was governed until 1420 by burgraves, the representatives of the courts of Holland. It received city rights in 1266.

Stronghold of Leiden

The stronghold of Leiden was created in the 9th century, when the vikings were ruling in Utrecht. It was sacked in 1047 by emperor Henry III. The stronghold of Leiden was located in the county of Holland. This county got its name in 1101 from a domain near the stronghold: Holtland or Holland. Ada, Countess of Holland took refuge here when she was fighting in a civil war against her brother, William I, Count of Holland. He besieged the stronghold and captured Ada.

The fall of the Burgraves

In 1420 duke Jan of Beieren along with his army marched from Gouda in the direction of Leiden in order to conquer the city. The army was well equipped and had some guns. Filips van Wassenaar and the other local Hoekse noblemen assumed that the duke would besiege Leiden first and send small units out to conquer the surrounding citadels. Thus Jan van Beieren chose to attack the citadels first with his army. By firing at the walls and gates the troops could weaken the citadels one by one. Within a week Jan van Beieren conquered the castles of Poelgeest, Ter Does, Hoichmade, de Zijl, ter Waerd, Warmond and de Paddenpoel. On the 24th of June the army appeared before the walls of Leiden. On the 17th of August in 1420, after a two-month siege the city delivered itself to Jan van Beieren. The citadel earl Filips van Wassenaar was stripped of his offices and rights and wore off his last years in captivity.

16th and 17th Century Leiden

Leiden flourished in the 16th and 17th century. At the close of the 15th century the weaving establishments (mainly broadcloth) of Leiden were very important, and after the expulsion of the Spaniards Leiden cloth, Leiden baize and Leiden camlet were familiar terms. It played an important role in the Eighty Years' War. Yearly on October 3 the end of the siege by the Spaniards in 1574 is still celebrated. Besieged from May until October, it was relieved by the cutting of the dikes, thus enabling ships to carry provisions to the inhabitants of the flooded town. As a reward for the heroic defence of the previous year, the University of Leiden was founded by William I of Orange in 1575. Tradition tells that the citizens were offered the choice between a university and a certain exemption from taxes. Leiden is also known as one of the places where some of the Pilgrims (as well as some of the first settlers of New Amsterdam) New World [http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1999/2/1999_2_102.shtml" target="_blank" >^*.

From the late 17th century onwards Leiden slumped, mainly because of decline of the cloth industries. In the beginning of the 19th century the baize manufacture was altogether given up, although industry remained central to Leiden economy. This decline is painted vividly by the fall in population. The population of Leiden which, it is estimated, reached 100,000 in 1640, had sunk to 30,000 between 1796 and 1811, and in 1904 was 56,044.

Leiden Today

Today Leiden forms an important part of Holland's history. The end of the Spanish siege in 1574 is celebrated on 3 October by an annual parade, a day off, a fair and eating the traditional food of herring and white bread and hutspot. However, the most important piece of Dutch history contributed by Leiden was the Dutch constitution. Johan Rudolf Thorbecke (1798-1872) wrote the Dutch constitution in April 1848 in his house at Garenmarkt 9 in Leiden.

Leiden has important functions as a shopping and trade center for communities around the city. It has the largest shopping street in Europe, the Haarlemmerstraat. The University of Leiden is famous for its many developments including the famous Leyden jar, a capacitor made from a glass jar, invented in Leiden by Pieter van Musschenbroek in 1746. (It was actually first invented by Ewald Georg von Kleist in Germany the year before, but the name "Leyden jar" stuck.) Another development was in cryogenics: Heike Kamerlingh Onnes (1913 Nobel price winner in physics) liquefied helium for the first time (1908) and later managed to reach a temperature of less than one degree above the absolute minimum. Albert Einstein also spent some time at Leiden University during his early to middle career.

Rivers, canals and parks

The two branches of the Old Rhine, which enter Leiden on the east, unite in the centre of the town. The town is further intersected by numerous small and sombre canals with tree-bordered quays. On the south side of the town, the Hortus Botanicus and other gardens extend along the old Singel, or outer canal. The Van der Werff Park is named after the mayor Pieter Adriaanszoon van der Werff, who defended the town against the Spaniards in 1574. This open space was formed by the accidental explosion of a ship loaded with gunpowder in 1807 which destroyed hundreds of houses, including that of the Elsevier family of printers.

Buildings of interest

Because of the economic decline in 17th to early 20th century Leiden much of the 16th and 17th century town centre is still intact.

Fortifications

At the strategically important junction of the two arms of the Old Rhine stands the old castle De Burcht, a circular tower built on an earthen mound. The mound probably was a refuge against high water before a small wooden fortress was built on top of it in the 11th century. Of Leiden's old city gates only two are left, the Zijlpoort and the Morspoort, both dating from the end of the 17th century. Apart from one small watch tower on the Singel nothing is left of the town's city walls. Another former fortification is the Gravensteen. Built as a fortress in the 13th century it has since served as house, library and prison. Presently it is one of the University's buildings.

Churches

The chief of Leiden's numerous churches are the Hooglandsche Kerk (or the church of St Pancras, built in the 15th century and containing a monument to Pieter Adriaanszoon van der Werff) and the Pieterskerk (church of St Peter (1315) with monuments to Scaliger, Boerhaave and other famous scholars. From a historical perspective the Marekerk is interesting too. Arent van 's Gravesande designed the church in 1639. Other fine examples of his work in Leiden are De Lakenhal, in which the municipal museum is located, and the Bibliotheca Thysiana. The growing town needed another church and the Marekerk was the first church to be built in Leiden (and in Holland) after the Reformation. It is an example of Dutch Classicism. In the drawings by Van 's Gravesande the pulpit is the centrepiece of the church. The pulpit is modelled after the one in the Nieuwe Kerk at Haarlem (designed by Jacob van Campen). The building was first used in 1650, and is still in use.Marekerk

University buildings

The town centre contains many buildings that are in use by the University of Leiden. The Academy Building is housed in a former 16th century convent. Among the institutions connected with the university are the national institution for East Indian languages, ethnology and geography; the botanical gardens, founded in 1587; the observatory (1860); the museum of antiquities (Rijksmuseum van Oudheden); and the ethnographical museum, of which P. F. von Siebold's Japanese collections was the nucleus. The Bibliotheca Thysiana occupies an old Renaissance building of the year 1655. It is especially rich in legal works and vernacular chronicles. Noteworthy are also the many special collections at Leiden University Library among which those of the Society of Dutch Literature (1766) and the collection of casts and engravings. In recent years the university has built the Bio Science Park at the city's outskirts to accommodate the Science departments.

Other buildings

Some other interesting buildings are the town hall (Stadhuis), a 16th century building that was badly damaged by a fire in 1929); the Gemeenslandshuis van Rynland (1596, restored in 1878); the weigh house (Waag), built by Pieter Post ; the former court-house (Gerecht); a corn-grinding windmill, now home to a museum (Molen de Valk) (1743) the old gymnasium(Latijnse School) (1599) and the city carpenter's yard and wharf (Stadstimmerwerf) (1612), both built by Lieven de Key (c. 1560-1627). Another building of interest is the "pesthuis", which was built at that time just outside the city for curing patients suffering the bubonic plague. However, after it was built the feared disease didn't occur in the Netherlands anymore so it was never used for its original purpose.

Famous and important Leidenaren throughout the times

Johann Bachstrom, 1688 - 1742, writer, scientist and Lutherian theologian.
Herman Boerhaave, 1668 - 1738, humanist and physician (born in Voorhout).
Gerard Dou, 1613 - 1675, painter.
Cornelius Engelbrechtszoon, 1468 - 1533, painter.
Jan van Goyen, 1596 - 1656, painter.
John of Leiden, 1509? - 1536, leader of the Anabaptist Münster Rebellion.
Lucas van Leyden, 1494 - 1533, engraver and painter.
Marinus van der Lubbe, 1909 - 1934, accused of setting fire to the Reichstag in Berlin.
Gabriel Metsu, 1629 - 1667, painter.
Rembrandt van Rijn, 1606 - 1669, painter.
Willebrord Snell, 1580 – 1626, astronomer and mathematician.
William II, 1228 - 1256, count of Holland, later also king of Germany.
Jan Steen, 1626 - 1679, painter.
Johannes Diderik van der Waals, 1837 - 1923, scientist.
Pieter Adriaanszoon van der Werff, 1529 - 1604, mayor of Leiden.

Miscellaneous

The mayor is Henri Lenferink (since 2003).
The coat of arms of Leiden is two keys, crossed in an X-shape.
Wireless Leiden is a wireless community network, see that article.
For a time Leiden held the title "The Coldest Place on Earth": in a laboratory, because of the developments in cryogenics that have happened there. Heike Kamerlingh Onnes (1913 Nobel prize winner in physics) liquefied helium for the first time (1908), and later managed to reach a temperature of less than one degree above the absolute minimum.
The Leyden jar, a capacitor made from a glass jar, was invented here by Pieter van Musschenbroek in 1746. It was actually first invented by Ewald Georg von Kleist the year before, but the name "Leyden jar" stuck.
Leiden is on the planned route of the RijnGouweLijn, the Netherland's first Light rail project. Within Leiden its route will be: Leiden Lammenschans - Korevaarstraat - Breestraat - stop Haarlemmerstraat - Stationsplein - Joop Walenkamptunnel - Albinusdreef (LUMC) - Sandfortdreef - Zernikedreef (Hogeschool) - (Einsteinweg) - Ehrenfestweg - (Plesmanlaan) - Transferium A44.
There are plans for a mega movie theater and disco (see nightclub) ^* next to the bus station. There is also opposition, because it would damage the exploitation of other cinemas.
Leiden has five twin towns: Juigalpa in Nicaragua, Krefeld in Germany, Oxford in the UK, Buffalo City in South Africa and Toruń in Poland
Postal codes are in the range 2300-2334.
The telephone area code is 071.
Leyden High School District 212 in Franklin Park, Illinois, USA got its name from this town.
Roadsign:

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