Culture and Tourism
Wassenaar´s history in short
Some 4,000 years ago the combined influences of the sea and the river Rhine, which at that time still flowed into the sea at Katwijk, resulted in the formation of a number of beach ridges. Initially these broad elevated sand ridges were exposed to the vagaries of both the sea and the Rhine. However, when about 1,500 years later another such beach ridge was formed on the seaward side, this blocked off the sea, and marshy peat bogs formed along the creeks between these ridges. Only much later, around 1,000 A.D., did the present-day dune areas originate. Owing to this alternation of sand, marine- and river clay, a rich flora developed, which in turn attracted a large variety of animals. Even nowadays, a number of distinctive animals, including weasels, polecats and stoats, are still found around Wassenaar. A particularly wide variety of birds make their home in the surrounding woods and dunes.
Human inhabitants were present in this area virtually from the earliest times. The first human habitation is estimated to have taken place some 38 centuries ago, immediately after the first beach ridges had been formed. Fragments of pottery, flint artefacts, and occasional graves indicate the presence of a settlement already in the early Bronze Age, about 1800 B.C. It is clear that these earliest residents lived in rather precarious conditions: during floods only the beach ridges stayed dry.
Green oasis
Wassenaar is situated to the north of The Hague / Scheveningen and to the south west of Leiden. It is known as one of the most beautiful villages of the Dutch North Sea shore area. The coastline of Wassenaar is over 8 kilometers long and covers an area over 60 square kilometer. Wassenaar has approx. 26.000 inhabitants, 3.400 inhabitants have a different nationality than the Dutch. The pleasant village centre of Wassenaar is surrounded by dunes, wooded areas, estates and residences. The town has a green and rustic character and hardly has any industry.