Why go
Looking across the Hofvijver before approaching the Binnenhof gives the city's beginnings a clear physical setting. The pond, court complex and Ridderzaal trace a line from the counts of Holland to later Dutch government, so the centre's political role feels rooted in its streets rather than abstract history.
The full story
Around 1230, Count Floris IV of Holland acquired land beside the pond now called the Hofvijver for a hunting residence. His son William II expanded the residence into a palace, and the Ridderzaal, or Knights' Hall, became its best-known surviving room. The counts used The Hague as a residence and administrative centre. Later rulers and assemblies kept political business here, and from the late sixteenth century the town served as a seat of government for the Dutch Republic. Its open, unwalled character once made it vulnerable during the Eighty Years' War, yet the governing centre endured. A walk around the Binnenhof therefore links several eras in a small area. Start at the Hofvijver to see the court complex beside the water, then look for the Ridderzaal within the larger group of buildings. Check current access before planning to enter any part of the complex; the historical setting is also legible from surrounding public space.