An universiteit is a university. In the medieval period, the area which is now known as the Netherlands did not have its own universities. People who wanted to pursue academic studies had to go to Paris, Cologne, Oxford, Bologna, or further afield. In 1425, the University of Louvain was founded in modern-day Belgium. Leiden has the oldest university of the Netherlands, founded in 1575. Other places that had universities were Franeker, Groningen, Utrecht, Harderwijk, and Nijmegen. Leiden, … [Read more...]
Dutch term – Koninklijk Besluit
22 January 2025 by Leave a Comment
A Koninklijk Besluit is a royal decree. Read the article about Royal Decrees to learn how to use them as a source to find out more about your ancestors' lives. … [Read more...]
Quick tip – Popular First Names Per Location
15 January 2025 by 1 Comment
The Corpus of Given Names in the Netherlands is a website by the Meertens Institute for research and documentation of the Dutch language and culture. It has a database of almost half a million Dutch first names, taken from civil registration records. The website has Lists of Popular Names. For each municipality or province, you can see the most popular first names from 1880 to the present. I like using these lists to see whether my ancestors gave their children popular names or not. If not, … [Read more...]
Map of the Week – World War I map
13 January 2025 by Leave a Comment
This week's map dates from World War I and is part of a larger series showing military activity. This particular map shows the activity until 7 October 1914. The Netherlands was neutral during World War I, as shown by the green color on the map. The map shows how close the activity got, with a sunken U-boat off the coast of Scheveningen, and various battles just across the border in Belgium. Although the Netherlands did not participate in the war, it did affect the lives of Dutch … [Read more...]
Dutch term – El, Palm, Duim, Streep
8 January 2025 by Leave a Comment
In physical descriptions, you may come across the terms el, palm, duim, and streep. You may see these in military records, prison records, or other types of registers that recorded the person's height. The English translations are: El (abbreviation: e.) - ell Palm (p.) - palm Duim (d.) - inch Streep (str.) - line. How much is meant by these depends on the date of the record. Before 1816, measures were not standardized, and different regions used different measures. See the … [Read more...]
Map of the Week – Nautical Chart of the Zeeland and Holland Coast
6 January 2025 by Leave a Comment
This week we are looking at a nautical chart made by Pieter Goos from an atlas published between 1666 and 1683. It shows the access routes to the South Holland and Zeeland rivers and cities. The chart was intended for sailors to set their course. It is oriented with the north on the left, as you can see in the compass. The different compass points allowed navigators to determine the headings to navigate the waters. The chart also showed the depths and channels to take to safely make it to … [Read more...]
Source – Central Archive for Special Jurisdiction (CABR)
2 January 2025 by 5 Comments
After World War II, about 425,000 people in the Netherlands were investigated by the Special Jurisdiction for collaboration with the Germans. The records of these investigations and court records are kept in the Central Archive for Special Jurisdiction ("Centraal Archief Bijzondere Rechtspleging," or CABR for short). An index is available online. Investigation, Prosecution, and Trials After World War II, hundreds of organizations worked together to investigate everyone who was suspected of … [Read more...]
Records that became public on 1 January 2025
1 January 2025 by 1 Comment
Happy New Year everybody! Many government records become public after 20, 25, 50, 75, or 100 years. Here is an overview of some of the records that became public as of 1 January 2025. Exceptions may exist for records that involve people that could still be alive. Just because records are public does not mean they are immediately available online. Some archives digitize the birth, marriage, and death records immediately, others do not. Some records will be online, some may be ordered via … [Read more...]
Map of the Week – Factories and Businesses in Enschede, 1930
30 December 2024 by 2 Comments
This week we're looking at a map of factories and businesses in Enschede in 1930. Before 1839, the textile industry of the Netherlands was mostly concentrated in the southern Netherlands. When Belgium split off in 1839, this offered new opportunities for textile manufacturers in the (northern) Netherlands since import tarriffs made Belgian goods more expensive for Dutch consumers. Enschede was one of the places where a flourishing textile industry developed after 1839. This map marks … [Read more...]
Dutch Genealogy News for December 2024
27 December 2024 by Leave a Comment
Here is an overview of the new sources, websites, and other news announced this month. Sources The resolutions of the States-General 1576-1796 are now full-text searchable via Goetgevonden (direct link to search form). The States-General was the central government of the Dutch Republic, combinining legislative and executive powers. An English version of the website will follow. A book of prayers from around 1470 has been digitized and can now be views online at the Drents Archief … [Read more...]
