The Dodenakkers.nl foundation is a key partner for anyone dealing with historical cemeteries, churches or gravemonuments with a Dutch background, located both in the Netherlands and around the world. Dodenakkers.nl started in 2001 and over the years several members joined our mission of working on funerary heritage. Our members vary from heritage professionals specialised in funerary heritage to dedicated volunteers with a wide range of expertise. We have a large network of professionals and experts in the field of funerary heritage, hence the broad range of our expertise. Our members work in their daily professional practice in the field and include their experiences in their advice and support. Dodenakkers.nl is a non-profit organization.
World-wide experience
Over the years the foundation has developed extensive expertise in the field of historic Dutch cemeteries abroad and it often works together with the Dutch Cultural Heritage Agency to deliver advice on the research, management, preservation and conservation of Dutch funerary heritage. In recent years, Dodenakkers.nl has provided advise on cemeteries in Indonesia, Japan, Suriname, Italy and India. The nature of the advice is always adapted to the local context and needs.
Dodenakkers.nl offers a wide range of services, both practical and theoretical. We have extensive experience with inventories of cultural-historical values in cemeteries worldwide with knowledge of reference examples from other European countries. Archive research is a valuable addition in understanding the values and meaning of those cemeteries. Also, the foundation supports the development of a vision on cemeteries regarding management and conservation. An important starting point for Dodenakkers.nl is the involvement of local stakeholders such as residents, employees and government.
We invest in knowledge
Dodenakkers.nl has experience with drawing up management plans, inventories and research, plans for redevelopment or reuse with respect to historical values. We offer advice, but also provide training and workshops to those involved, both in terms of content and in practice. The focus is on the transfer of knowledge. The possibilities vary from a workshop in a part of the day to support in the field during several days or more. In doing so, we focus on the involvement of local parties and expertise. With this, Dodenakkers.nl wants to make sustainable management of historical heritage possible. Stories of significant Dutch cemeteries all around the world can be read on our website, also with the aim to share knowledge about these places.
Shared Cemeteries
At the end of 2020 we started a new website about shared funerary heritage abroad: SharedCemeteries.net. SharedCemeteries.net is a bilingual portal about funerary heritage in former Dutch colonies, posts and fortifications worldwide. The portal was developed by the Dutch Dodenakkers.nl foundation with support from the Prins Bernard Cultuurfonds.
SharedCemeteries.net is "work in progress" and in December 2020 a start was made with mapping Suriname in collaboration with the Suriname Built Heritage Foundation. In addition, Japan has been made available. Information on India and the Caribbean will follow in the spring of 2021. Funerary heritage in more than 20 other countries will be added later in 2021.
In addition to overviews and articles per country or region, the website offers various glossaries, a clickable world map and an image bank. The foundation also wants to provide supporting documentation with regard to management and preservation.
SharedCemeteries.net cordially invites researchers, historians, stakeholders and interested parties to work together to map out this special kind of shared heritage.
Contact us
Due to its specific field of expertise, we are an important partner for the Shared Cultural Heritage countries where traces of Dutch funerary remains can often still be found. If your organisation would like to request information or advice on Dutch funerary heritage, please contact us at Dit e-mailadres wordt beveiligd tegen spambots. JavaScript dient ingeschakeld te zijn om het te bekijken..
