Designed in the early 20th century as a forest or city park along the Noorderplas as Kralingse Plas is called at that time. The original name of the park is Kralinger Hout.
In 1921 the architect Molière created a new design. When the land was finally raised enough, they started planting oak trees specially grown in Noord-Brabant.
The rubble from the bombed city center was dumped in the southern corner of the lake. This created a group of small islands, which are connected by of bridges.