History
Behind the houses on Prins Hendrikstraat lies a place with a surprising past: first a convent with a girls' school, then a garage that very nearly disappeared.
From convent school to neighbourhood garage
The Zeeheldenkwartier (“sea heroes' quarter”) was built between 1870 and 1890 on land that once belonged to Queen Anna Paulowna. Its streets are named after Dutch naval heroes and explorers. Prins Hendrikstraat is named after Prince Henry “the Navigator” of the Netherlands. The story of De Zeeheld begins at number 57-59.
- 1878
A new parish
The bishop founds the parish of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception in the growing district, locally known as “het Kleine Veentje”. The Jesuits who run the parish also want good schooling for the local children.
- 1889
The Mariaschool
At the Jesuits' request, the Franciscan Sisters of Mariadal from Roosendaal take on the teaching. Architect Nicolaas Molenaar Sr., a pupil of Pierre Cuypers, designs a convent with a chapel on Prins Hendrikstraat. The classrooms are built at the back, on Tasmanstraat.
- 1892
The big church nearby
Molenaar also builds the parish church nearby, with its two 72-metre towers. It is still a landmark of the area.
- 1890–1963
Seventy years of teaching
The sisters run a nursery, a primary school, teacher training, a secondary school and domestic science classes. Former pupils mainly remember the long corridors, the two playgrounds and the convent garden where class photos were taken.
- 1963
The sisters leave
The convent closes and Molenaar's building is later demolished. According to local stories, it served for a while as a boarding house for Spanish guest workers.
- Later
The shopkeepers' garage
According to local residents, the Prins Hendrikstraat shopkeepers' association bought the site and built a parking garage with more than 200 spaces. People shopping in the street could park there cheaply.
- 1996–1998
The fight for parking space
In 1996 The Hague introduces paid parking in the Zeeheldenkwartier. The garage struggles, and the city commissions a study, under the working title “Royal Stables”, into how it could be put to good use again.
- 2016
Almost gone
After standing empty for years, the garage is sold to a property developer who plans around sixty apartments, with only 45 parking spaces instead of the 200-plus there used to be. Residents, shops and restaurants in the street object: parking in the area is already very tight.
- 2017–2018
Politics gets involved
City councillors ask questions about the disappearing parking spaces, and a solution is sought behind the scenes to keep the garage for the neighbourhood. The neighbourhood gets its garage after all, although the way it happened later led to heated political debate in the city council.
- 2019
The city buys it
HTM introduces new, wider low-floor trams. On narrow Zoutmanstraat they no longer fit alongside parked cars, so around a hundred spaces on Zoutmanstraat and Laan van Meerdervoort have to go, and the council wants compensation for the neighbourhood. The city executive agrees to buy De Zeeheld. Under the deal, the owner first fully repairs and renovates the garage before ownership passes to the city.
- 2019–2020
A major overhaul
The structure is repaired and renovated, an access control system is installed and the garage is laid out with 135+ spaces. The work is finished in the summer of 2020. Residents suggest putting solar panels on the roof and greening the façade on Prins Hendrikstraat.
- 2021
Reopening
On 1 February 2021 De Zeeheld opens as a residents' garage run by Q-Park. The neighbourhood is happy with the spaces but not with the price: a space in the garage turns out to cost almost eight times as much as a resident's street permit, which was then €64.20 a year. Residents call the compensation a sham in the local paper, and fierce debates follow. Even so, it is finally a garage of and for the neighbourhood again.
The Tasmanhof also rose from the ashes
Right next to the garage, on Tasmanstraat, stood De Wereldwijzer primary school. On 16 January 2006 it burned down completely; fortunately no one was hurt. After years of plans, petitions and a compromise between residents, the city and housing association Haag Wonen, two things took its place: the De Tasmanhof residential building and the Zeeheldentuin garden.
So for more than a century this corner of the Zeeheldenkwartier has been a place where learning, living and community come together.
Do you know more?
Did you go to the Mariaschool, or do you have photos of the old garage or memories of Prins Hendrikstraat? We'd love to add to this story.
Sources include: Dutch Heritage Centre for Monastic Life, The Hague Municipal Archives, City of The Hague council records, Zeeheldennieuws and Omroep West. Information on the period 1963–1996 is partly based on residents' memories. Photos of the Mariaschool and Prins Hendrikstraat can be found in the image bank of The Hague Municipal Archives.