In the year 1280 AD, the gate to the outer courtyard or Buitenhof served as the main entrance to the castle of the Counts of Holland, known as the Binnenhof today. In 1428, this ‘Front Gate to the Court’ also became a prison. It was where defaulters were incarcerated and suspected criminals awaited their trials. It was a prison for four hundred years. The Prison Gate has been a museum since 1882. Ever since, it has been home to the biggest collection of instruments of punishment and torture in the Netherlands.