The Transvaal Neighborhood Bounded by Leiden and Oegstgeest

When Leiden’s population was expanding at a fast rate at the end of the 19th century, the city was looking to extend its borders to facilitate economic and demographic growth. Extra land was sought and found in the area around the Morsweg, which later would be called the Transvaal neighborhood. The area outside of the outer canals, marked on this map in pink, was added to Leiden by means of annexation in 1896.If you want to know more about the expansions of Leiden since 1850, then read Drie annexaties, on the website of Historische Canon van Leiden (visited 13th of April 2022)!

Leiden was under the impression that the residents who lived in the area so close to the Morspoort, were basically ‘Leidenaren’ already. But the city of Oegstgeest thought differently and was not convinced by Leiden’s appeal to annexation. Oegstgeest wanted nothing to do with the financial benefits offered by Leiden. For them, it felt like they would be robbed of a beautiful and prosperous part of their city. They considered the area to have a unique character and felt that it was incomparable to the neighborhoods in Leiden. They also felt that the border changes were not proposed out of public interest, but because of Leiden’s egoism.Source: Erfgoed Leiden, Inventaris van het archief van het gemeentebestuur van Oegstgeest (en Poelgeest), II Stukken betreffende afzonderlijke onderwerpen, II.A.2 Grondgebied, inv.nr. 208 Stukken betreffende de annexatie (bij wet van 13 juli 1896. Staatsblad nr. 107) van een gedeelte van het grondgebied van Oegstgeest door de gemeente Leiden, 1886-1899.

From the first moment, Oegstgeest resisted vehemently against the proposed border changes. Many meetings, committees and letters about this problem followed. Oegstgeest posed: “we are loyal to our oath, that we take the interests of the city of Oegstgeest to heart, and so we protest against the proposed annexation.”In Dutch:“getrouw zijn aan den door ons afgelegde eed, dat wij de belangen der gemeente Oegstgeest met al ons vermogen zullen voorstaan en bevorderen, ten sterkste protesteren tegen de voorgestelde annexatie.” Erfgoed Leiden, Inventaris van het archief van het gemeentebestuur van Oegstgeest (en Poelgeest), II Stukken betreffende afzonderlijke onderwerpen, II.A.2 Grondgebied, inv.nr. 208 Stukken betreffende de annexatie (bij wet van 13 juli 1896. Staatsblad nr. 107) van een gedeelte van het grondgebied van Oegstgeest door de gemeente Leiden, 1886-1899.

The resistance of Oegstgeest was of no avail. Before the annexation, the Morspoort acted as the physical border between the two cities. But after the annexation of 1896, this changed, and the area between the Morspoort and the Lage Morsweg became part of Leiden. The neighborhood became an eclectic collection of varying houses, residents and living atmospheres with a rich history. The border change continued to cause commotion in the following decades…