Walloon Church

Neoclassical synagogue building in courtyard. The building was designed in 1842 as a High German synagogue by architect Roodenburg on behalf of the board of the Ashkenazi Jewish community in The Hague. It was partly financed by King William II. The synagogue was put into use in 1844. The synagogue was located in the middle of the then Jewish quarter of The Hague. After the deportation of the Jews of The Hague in 1942 and 1943, the synagogue stood empty. After the Second World War, the synagogue was restored to its former glory together with two other synagogues. However, the Jewish community had declined sharply in number after the war, from 17,000 to 2,000.

The synagogue is located behind the private residences of the Wagenstraat. It was consecrated in the year 1844. It replaced an older synagogue which was situated at the Voldersgracht (dated ca. 1721/23). The Neo-Classical main façade includes a cornice and triangular pediment with a tondo window. The entrance itself is also adorned with a triangular pediment is supported by Tuscan columns. Rounded arched windows can be found in the side walls of the building. The entrance originally contained an unknown Hebrew inscription and the date 5604 (1844 CE) but these were removed in the year 1981. The synagogue was oriented along the short axis which meant that the Torah ark was situated against the long southeastern wall. The bimah was placed at the center of the assembly hall, facing the Torah ark. The building, including the galleries which are supported by slender Ionic columns, were expanded in 1922. The complex was expanded with the establishment of an administrative building and a second synagogue along the Nieuwe Molstraat (demolished in 1981), designed by the architect H. Elte Phzn in the architectural style of the Amsterdam School. The interior of the synagogue was damaged by fire during the Second World War in 1944. Three years later, the building was again consecrated as a synagogue after which the Jewish religious services resumed. In 1976, the building became abandoned and was subsequently sold to the municipality of The Hague. The decorated Torah ark (ca. 1723) was removed and relocated to Israel in the same year. The building was repurposed as a mosque which opened its doors in the year 1979. The front façade of the building received Arabic inscriptions and two large steel minarets were placed in the forecourt of the building.

On the site of the chapel of the Spanish legation, opened in 1649 and elevated to a state in 1807. Three-aisled neoclassical hall church with Ionic columns and stuccoed wooden vaults, over the central nave with ribs. The plastered front facade has a central risalit with paired half columns, which carry an entablature and pediment, above which a bell tower. On either side of the risalit pilasters and attic-like attachments with volutes. On the choir side a parsonage, under one roof with the church. Neo-Baroque inventory preserved in its entirety: altar 1841 by Charles Geerts in Leuven, who also supplied the pulpit in 1849; altarpiece by Mathieu; organ by FB Loret (Mechelen) from 1851, modified in 1924 by JJ van den Bijlaardt (Dordrecht), restored in 1963 by Jos. Vermeulen (Alkmaar); Statue of Teresa by Stracké.