Rijswijk

Rijswijk, formerly known as Ryswick in English, is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Its population was 59.642 in 2024, and it has an area of undefined km2, undefined km2 of which is water.

The municipality also includes the former villages of 't Haantje and Sion, currently also known as Rijswijk-Buiten.

Demographics
62% Dutch background, 38% No Dutch background

History
Archeological excavations indicate that this area of the coastal dunes was already inhabited some 5500 years ago. The village of Rijswijk formed in the 13th century, and its history was dominated by the presence of mansions and estates of the nobility and affluent.

The Treaty of Ryswick was signed at the Huis ter Nieuwburg in 1697, ending the Nine Years' War. A monument, the Needle of Rijswijk (1792), was erected to commemorate the treaty in the Rijswijk Forest.

Until 1900 Rijswijk remained a relative small community but it became urbanized during the 20th century when it expanded rapidly. Today, Rijswijk's area has almost been completely built-up. The last major development is the new Ypenburg neighbourhood, built on the lands of the former Ypenburg Airfield but this part of Rijswijk was annexed by The Hague in 2002. Rijswijk is part of the Haaglanden conurbation. During the years its built-up area has grown to the point where it has effectively merged with The Hague, even though it is still a separate municipality.

Up until 2009 Rijswijk had a polytechnic college for applied sciences; TH Rijswijk (Technische Hogeschool Rijswijk). After a merger with the Haagse Hogeschool, this was moved to the campus of the TUDelft in Delft. The building still remains.

Istana Negara, one of the six presidential palaces of Indonesia, in the Jakarta neighbourhood of Harmoni (formerly Rijswijk-Molenvliet), was called Paleis te Rijswijk during Dutch colonial times.

Public transport

 * Rijswijk station
 * Stopplaats Rijswijk-Wateringen

Economy
Rijswijk is home to:
 * The Biomedical Primate Research Centre (BPRC).
 * The Netherlands Patent Office, at the same location as a branch of the European Patent Office.
 * A small part of the Dutch national Forensic Laboratory, researching clues and objects in order to aid police investigations. The main building has moved to The Hague-Ypenburg.
 * The Headquarters of TUI Netherlands.

Recreation

 * Parks: Hoekpolder, Plaspoelpolder, Schaapweipolder, Hoge Broekpolder, Noordpolder, Park Overvoorde, Wilhelminapark, Elsenburgerbos, Park Steenvoorde.
 * Natural swimming location De Put
 * Rijswijkse Schouwburg, which hosts many national theatre shows.
 * The Von Fisenne Park has a petting zoo.
 * Sports park 'De Schilp' has an indoor swimming pool.
 * Museum Rijswijk located at Herenstraat 67, 2282 BR Rijswijk, which has many works of art

The largest shopping center is called 'In de Bogaard' and smaller shops are located in the old town center (Herenstraat). There is the old Schaapweimolen (windmill). De Broodfabriek holds many fairs and events.

Public service

 * Dionysius Koolen (1871–1945) a Dutch politician
 * Henk Beernink (1910–1979 in Rijswijk) a Dutch politician
 * Chris van Veen (1922–2009) a politician; also worked for the municipality of Rijswijk 1945/1960
 * Gerard Veringa (1924–1999 in Rijswijk) a Dutch politician and criminologist
 * Maurits Kiek (1909–1980) resistance fighter World War II
 * Peter Oskam (born 1960) a Dutch politician, former football referee and judge
 * Sigrid Kaag (born 1961) a Dutch politician and diplomat, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development since 2017

Arts and learning

 * Adriaen van der Cabel (1630–1705) a Dutch Golden Age landscape painter
 * Hendrik Tollens (1780–1856 in Rijswijk) poet
 * P. J. Cosijn (1840–1899) a Dutch scholar of Anglo-Saxon literature
 * Jacques van Meegeren (1912–1977) a Dutch illustrator, painter and suspected art forger
 * Teddy Scholten (1926–2010) a Dutch singer and winner of the 1959 Eurovision Song Contest
 * Felix Thijssen (1933–2022) author of crime and science fiction novels and books for children
 * Johan van Benthem (born 1949) former academic logician
 * Albert Benschop (1949–2018) a Dutch sociologist and academic
 * Peter Slaghuis (1961–1991) a Dutch musician, DJ, producer and remixer
 * Eelco Visser (1966–2022), professor of computer science
 * Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer (born 1968) a poet, novelist, polemicist and classical scholar

Sport

 * Louis Otten (1883–1946) football player, team bronze medallist at the 1908 Summer Olympics
 * Piet van der Touw (born 1940) a retired cyclist, competed at the 1960 and 1964 Summer Olympics
 * Richard Knopper (born 1977) a Dutch former footballer with 285 club caps
 * Anish Giri (born 1994) a Russian-born Dutch chess Grandmaster, lives in Rijswijk
 * Keye van der Vuurst de Vries (born 2001) a Dutch basketball player, made his debut for the Netherlands national basketball team aged 16
 * Jeffrey de Zwaan (born 1996) Dutch darts player, born in Rijswijk
 * Mark Caljouw (born 1995) Dutch badminton player, born in Rijswijk