Loyal reader Jenny wonders who the Keizerstraat in Scheveningen is named after. This old street is the heart of the seaside resort and the separation between west and east Scheveningen. Which Emperor is this? We’ll figure it out.

After some research we find out that it is not 100% sure who the Keizerstraat is named, but the experts do have a suspicion.

Keizer

The Keizerstraat has had this name for a long time, the street was already mentioned in texts from 1565 named! It is probably about Emperor Charles V who of 1500 until 1558 lived. Charles the fifth was, among other things, Count of Holland. His father was the King of Spain and Duke of Holland. When Charles was fifteen he already ruled the Netherlands. A year later he was given power over America and a few years later he was elected Roman king in Germany.

This important street in Scheveningen may be named after him, but he probably never visited Scheveningen. In his entire life, Karel has only been to The Hague once, when he planted four rows of lime trees on the Voorhout.

Bloodgate

Another fun fact; An alley of the Keizerstraat was the Blood Gate. Mainly poor fishing families lived there and it was long thought that the alley was called that because a murder had been committed. That is not entirely correct, because the name comes from the slaughterhouse that was on the corner of Blood Gate and Keizerstraat.

1558 Keizerstraat, Vredehofje popularly also called Blood Gate. The Hague municipal archive

Source: Historical museum, Hague times

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