Local government and history

The Mayor and Aldermen (B and W) are the executive board of the municipality. The mayor is appointed by the Queen and is chairman of both the council and the board. The council appoints the Aldermen. The Board of B and W executes the policy and takes practical decisions, e.g. on land sales. The College of B and W is always accountable to the board.

College advisory committees

Within the Oegstgeest municipality there are college advisory committees. These committees provide solicited and unsolicited advice to the Mayor and aldermen. At the committees is described what they do, the composition and meeting dates and if applicable the reports of the meetings.

History

Oegstgeest is one of the earliest inhabited places along the coast. The name Oegstgeest refers to the spiritual grounds, which were incidentally excavated in the seventeenth century for expansions of the city of Leiden. The origin of the word "Oegst" is unclear. More history can be found on Wikipedia.

Town hall history

The current hall was built in 1901 as an "institute for nervous sufferers". In 1997-1998 the reconstruction into town hall took place. Untill 1949 the building was called 'Sanatorium Rhijngeest', after the estate on which the hospital is built. Later it became the "Jelgersmakliniek", or, in popular language, "The Jel". During the renovation of the building, the facade was cleaned and it appeared that under the name Jelgersmakliniek the name Rhijngeest still remained. The name "Rhijngeest" now is again displayed above the main entrance. The municipality took the renovated building in use on August 17, 1998. On Saturday, June 5, 1999 the town hall was officially opened.

Digital photo archive

The collections of the photographer Loek de Groot, the Association Old Oegstgeest and the Oegstgeest municipality archives can be viewed digital. Now it concerns approximately 2500 photos; if the digital archive is complete, you will be able to find there about 9,000 digital photos. The oldest photographs date from around 1890. The collection continues to this day. The database is continually updated and expanded. There are many ways for interested people to retrieve digital photo archive. You can search by subject, by street name, or by year. You can find an explanation about the digital archive on the site. Also you can learn there how you can enlarge or order pictures. View the digital photo archive (Dutch).