The Transvaal Neighborhood Bounded by Social Boundaries

In a sense, the residents of the Transvaal neighborhood also created their own boundaries. As we already saw with the Rhijnzicht swimming pool, women were not welcome in certain places in the neighborhood. People belonging to other social groups were expected to stay clear of certain places. Older residents, for example, pointed out to us during a walk through their neighborhood where they were or were not allowed to play, and the route their parents made them take on their way to school.

On this part of the map we see the part of the Transvaal neighborhood that is in between the Morspoort and the Lopsenstraat. One of the residents told us that she grew up on the Morssingel, and was not allowed to cross the road, because the part of the neighborhood on that side of the road was supposedly ‘bad’. Other residents shared similar sentiments: back then you would know better than to walk through the ‘Hakbijlenbuurt’, that same area in between the Morspoort and the Lopsenstraat. This part of the Transvaal neighborhood had a negative reputation, and so it was avoided by many.If you want to know more about the stories in the Hakbijlenbuurt, read this story! Actual physical borders also played a big role in drawing social boundaries through the neighborhood. In the next step we will look at the so-called annexations of the land by Leiden that have contributed to the development of social contrasts in and outside of the area.