Oude Kerk, The Hague

The Old Church stands in Keizerstraat, once one of the busiest shopping streets in Scheveningen, in the Dutch municipality of The Hague. The church is the oldest monument of the former fishing village. The Old Church is a church of the Protestant congregation in Scheveningen and houses its Wijkgemeente Oude Kerk and the Hersteld Hervormde Gemeente Thabor Scheveningen.

Since the middle of the 14th century Scheveningen had its own church, but for a baptism or marriage Scheveningers had to go to The Hague and there was no cemetery. When Scheveningen became an independent parish in the middle of the 15th century, a real church was built, the current Oude Kerk.

In 1570, the All Saints Flood destroyed much of the fishing village. The church was then no longer in the center of the village, but on the outskirts. In 1578 the Roman Catholic clergyman disappeared from Scheveningen and was replaced by a Reformation minister.

In 1778, the Ter Navolgingseweg cemetery was established on a dune near the corner of the current Duinstraat, the first cemetery in the Netherlands to be located outside of the built-up area.

In 1893 a second church was built in Scheveningen, in the Duinstraat. From then on, the church in Keizerstraat was called the Old Church and the church in Duinstraat was called the New Church.

Between 1957 and 1959, the Old Church was restored. The sexton's house was attached to the church building.