Our history

Our history dates back to 1881, when two young, ambitious engineers, Johan van Hasselt and Jacobus de Koning, founded the first independent engineering firm in the Netherlands.

Our founding fathers: from left to right: 1st row - Johan van Hasselt, Jacobus de Koning.
2nd row - Bastiaan Verheij, Adriaan Dwars, Arie Heederik.

The journey continued when, some decades later, three civil engineers, Dwars, Heederik and Verhey, started their firm the Vereenigde ingenieursbureaux voor bouw- en waterbouwkunde in 1917. Both companies joined forces in 2012 as Royal HaskoningDHV. In 2025, the company name was simplified to Haskoning.

In our history, we see the roots of our work. It reflects our independent thinking, our deep domain knowledge and our ability to move into new markets. Since the beginning, both companies have grown step by step. From the 1970s onwards, they also expanded by joining forces with specialised consultancies in the Netherlands and abroad. More recently, growing digital and AI capabilities have opened up new possibilities in engineering, enabling entirely new services and business models.

Our family tree

Our founders shared a passion for the profession of engineering. They believed in progress and wanted to make the world a better place. This family tree (dated 2026) shows how we grew from a small, passionate group of people into an international community of 7,000 employees, all working to enhance society together. We are still an independent and employee-owned organisation.

Download the family tree

A tree diagram with colored circles illustrating the historical evolution of Haskoning from 1881 till today.

Key moments in our firm's history

New name

2025

Royal HaskoningDHV continues under the shorter name Haskoning, while retaining its Royal designation.

Anniversary

2021

Royal HaskoningDHV celebrates its 140th anniversary. Much has changed over the years, but we remain focused on enhancing society together with the same perseverance and ingenuity as our founding fathers did.

Merger

2012

DHV and Royal Haskoning merge to form Royal HaskoningDHV. This makes us the largest independent engineering and consultancy firm of the Netherlands and puts us among the top 10 worldwide.

United Kingdom

1994

Engineers and environmental scientists of British engineering consultant Posford Duvivier join our company. Their specialist expertise working on port installations represents a major expansion for our company.

Designation

1981

Haskoning becomes a ‘Royal’ business, as designated by the Royal House of the Netherlands. This underlines our 100-year existence, spotless reputation and financial stability. We proudly carry this designation until this day.

International

1951

Our company enters a period of strong growth when we join Nedeco, Netherlands Engineering Consultancy. This umbrella organisation for overseas projects provides valuable experience and lays the foundations for further international expansion.

Historical image of Central kitchens in the Netherlands

WW II

1940

During the Second World War, DHV made a valuable contribution to the national food supplies in the Netherlands by designing dozens of so-called Centrale Keukens, or community kitchens.

Water technology

1919/1968/2005

From 1919 onwards, DHV provided advice on sewage systems. In 1968, they invented the Carrousel to carry out wastewater treatment. And in 2005 the first fully functioning industrial wastewater treatment system based on Nereda® technology was put into use.

Women

1917

Women begin working at our company. Their role evolved significantly over the past century.

Netherlands

1917

A collaboration with a Dutch beer brewer leads up to the start of engineering firm Dwars, Heederik & Verhey (DHV).

Egypt

1889

Jacobus de Koning travelled to Egypt to create a design for a railway bridge across the Nile.

First independent engineering firm

1881

Johan van Hasselt and Jacobus de Koning set up the first independent engineering firm in the Netherlands. It’s the only engineering firm in the Netherlands that has been able to keep its independency until today.

Images

1881, 1917, 2021: Company archives Haskoning
1889: H. Arnoux, Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde
1917: Heineken collection
1919: Stadsarchief Amsterdam/Gustaaf Oosterhuis
1940: Historisch Centrum Leeuwarden
1951: Nedeco archives
1994: Steve Cadman/Flickr, Creative Commons