The Hague Netherlands Temple

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Hague Netherlands Temple

Number	114	edit data
Announcement	1999-08-16
Groundbreaking	2000-08-26 by John K. Carmack
Open House	17 August - 31 August 2002
Dedication	2002-09-08 by Gordon B. Hinckley
Location	Osijlaan 2 Zoetermeer Netherlands
Phone number	(31) 79-343-5310
Total floor area	10,500 sq ft (980 m²)
Exterior finish	Polished granite
Temple design	Classic modern, single-spire design
Ordinance rooms	2
Sealing rooms	2
Clothing rental	No
Cafeteria	No services
Visitors' center	No
Preceded by	Nauvoo Illinois Temple
Followed by	Brisbane Australia Temple
Official website • News & Images

The Hague Netherlands Temple is the 114th operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The building of a Mormon temple in Zoetermeer, a satellite city of The Hague, was announced on August 16, 1999. This temple serves more than 13,000 members from the Netherlands, Belgium, and parts of France.

Mormon missionary Elder Orson Hyde, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, first entered the Netherlands in 1841. He stayed for a little more than a week preaching the gospel, but he had really been sent to go to Jerusalem. It was not until twenty years later in 1861 that the first Mormon missionaries were officially sent to the Netherlands. On October 1, 1861 near the village Broek bij Akkerwoude (now part of the Dantumadeel municipality) the first converts to the Mormon Church in the Netherlands were baptized. People from the Netherlands joined the Mormon Church by the thousands, but most emigrated to the United States to be in Utah near Church headquarters. In more recent years Church leadership has asked members to stay in their own lands and build up the Church there. The Mormon Church has continued to steadily grow in the Netherlands and there are now three stakes and 7,800 members.

A groundbreaking ceremony and site dedication for The Hague Netherlands Temple was held on August 26, 2000. The site chosen for the temple is in a city park. Temple construction quickly began. Because the site bought by the Church is only slightly larger than the area needed for the temple, a parking garage and temple clothing store were built underneath the temple.

An open house for the public was held August 17-31 2002. President of the Mormon Church, Gordon B. Hinckley, dedicated The Hague Netherlands Temple for use on September 8, 2002. The Hague Netherlands Temple has a total of 10,500 square feet, two ordinance rooms, and two sealing rooms.