Stadstekenaar: Regentesseplein

The city artist (2023-2025) Babette Wagenvoort draws assemblies on places in The Hague, every month we publish one. This time: Regentesseplein, a confluence of trees.

This month, the Hague's street corners and squares allow you to imagine yourself in the woods for a very short time. But among the blue spruce, Nordman and other pines, warmly dressed people are ready to take a tree through a tunnel on legs and catch it in a plastic net, so that you can easily carry 'your tree' in your car or under your arm.

Arriving at the temporary forest at Regentesseplein on an early dark afternoon, the city artist saw a row of pine trees scurrying side by side against the fence, as if they had been captured and placed behind a fence for punishment. The opposite appears to be the case. The fences are a reminder of the Christmas tree wars of the 1980s, which stemmed from the Hague tradition of 'rausing' Christmas trees. They are there to deter Christmas tree hunters, who seek material for their bonfires at the turn of the year, and put off the inevitable until after Christmas.