Voorburg is a town and former municipality in the west part of the province of South Holland, Netherlands. Together with Leidschendam and Stompwijk, it makes up the municipality Leidschendam-Voorburg. It has a population of about 39,000 people. It is considered to be the oldest city in The Netherlands and celebrated its 2000th year of existence in 1988. In 2002, the cities of Leidschendam and Voorburg were merged under the new municipality named "Leidschendam-Voorburg". Situated adjacent to the city ofThe Hague, it is often regarded as one of its suburbs.
History
Voorburg, the most densely populated of the three towns in the municipality, has its roots in the 2nd century, when a local civilian settlement gained city rights from the Romans, becoming known as Forum Hadriani. It was along the Fossa Corbulonis, a canal connecting the Rhine and the Meuse that had been dug in 47 AD by the Roman general Corbulo. This waterway is now known as the Rijn-Schie canal and is still a dominant landmark of the present day borough. Famous inhabitants of Voorburg include the 17th century author and poet Constantijn Huygens, who spent many years building his small country houseHofwijck with adjacent geometrically shaped gardens alongside the Vliet. His son, the famous astronomer and mathematician Christiaan Huygens, spent several years in his father's country house in Voorburg. The house, located next to the main railway station, now functions as a museum. Philosopher Baruch Spinoza lived in Voorburg from 1663 to 1670. In Voorburg, Spinoza continued work on the Ethics and corresponded with scientists, philosophers, and theologians throughout Europe. He also wrote and published his Theological Political Treatise in 1670, in defense of secular and constitutional government, and in support of Johan de Witt, the Grand Pensionary of the Netherlands, against the Stadtholder, the Prince of Orange. Until 2009 Voorburg hosted the major branch of the country's statistics institute, the CBS, which provides most of the statistical data used by the government. That year the CBS relocated a few kilometers eastward to Leidschenveen, one of the new developments around the city of The Hague Until June 2006the town had three railway stations: Voorburg, Voorburg 't Loo and Leidschendam-Voorburg station. The latter two are now part of the Randstad Rail network. Voorburg used to be an Intercity station, because there was an eternal agreement with the railways that every passing train should stop there. It lost that status, as the new railway station is elevated and therefore no longer on the soil of Voorburg.
