About us

The Catholic Documentation Centre ('Katholiek Documentatie Centrum' in Dutch, or KDC for short) preserves, organizes and provides access to archives, books, brochures, magazines, photos, video and audio recordings, and digital sources from private collections of Catholic individuals and collections from civic Catholic organizations in the Netherlands.

These collections cover a great variety of aspects of Roman Catholic life in the Netherlands from the nineteenth century up to the present. The KDC leaves the preservation of strictly ecclesiastical archives to the church itself, while the monastic collections are kept at the Heritage Centre for Monastic Life in St. Agatha. The KDC concentrates on lay initiatives and civic activities of the clergy.

The KDC provides access to these collections for research purposes. In addition we assist individual researchers with personal advice and grant them access to our library of secondary sources.

Organization
The KDC is a special department of the University Library of the Radboud University in Nijmegen. The KDC director, dr. Hans Krabbendam, reports to the Director of the University Library and the Secretary of the University’s Executive Board.

Two collection specialists, dr. Vefie Poels and Ramses Peters, MA are responsible for the library and audiovisual collections and the archives, respectively.

History

In 1967 dr. A.F. Manning (1929-1991), Professor of Modern History at the Catholic University Nijmegen (now Radboud University) took the initiative of the KDC when current trends in Dutch Catholicism such as church reforms, secularization and the depillarisation of Dutch society, led to the closing and mergers of many Catholic institutions that led to the abandonment of their archives. The KDC’s main goal was to collect and preserve this heritage.

In 1969 the KDC started under the management of dr. Jan Roes (1939-2003). Within just a couple of years the KDC established itself as the central institution for all Catholic archives in the Netherlands.

In the following decades its collection steadily expanded and the KDC became a frontrunner in the Dutch heritage community. In the 1980s the KDC was one of the first Dutch archives to introduce a digital catalogue to which digitized photos, videos, posters, devotional prints were added in the 1990s.

In 1994 dr. Jan Roes was appointed as professor of the History of Dutch Catholicism at the Radboud University. This position allowed him to fortify the KDC as a historical research centre. In 2003 he died unexpectedly and the KDC had to be repositioned.

In 2005 dr. Lodewijk Winkeler was appointed as head of the KDC, when it became integrated as a department of the University Library. During the next decade the KDC professionalized the accessibility of the collections by digitizing the most frequently consulted archives and the audio-visual collection. The KDC actively participated in the Platform for Private Archives, where representatives of similar institutions and government depositories exchange their knowledge and expertise in order to preserve the memory of a representative part of Dutch society.

In the past few decades Dutch Catholicism transformed from ‘a cultural identity’ towards ‘an individual religious choice’. This resulted in a decline in number of confessional parties, clubs, associations and organizations in favour of ‘online communities’. Dutch Catholicism gradually lost its visibility in the public domain. These trends challenges the KDC to create new perspectives on heritage and preservation.

After dr Winkeler’s retirement in 2016, dr. Hans Krabbendam has been installed as the new director. His mission is to reconnect the KDC with the modern fields of research and current issues, and recover its position within the Dutch heritage community. The newly phrased mission statement in the side bar explains this strategy.

Want to know more?

Are you an international researcher or student, who is interested in doing research at the KDC? Do you want to know more about the services we provide or the sources in our collection? Please, feel free to contact us at info@kdc.ru.nl.

The KDC’s main goal is to make the heritage of Dutch Catholicism (from the 1800s onwards) fruitful for modern research and current issues.

Identity
The KDC is a knowledge centre and meeting place for a wide range of researchers, which provides its own sources and ideas to gain new perspectives and make the Dutch Catholic heritage relevant for the modern era.

Values and convictions
Professional historical reflection shapes the memory of our society. In an ever-changing world, it is crucial to bolster public awareness of the role of religion in our society and draw more attention to the Catholic tradition.

Means
The KDC collects relevant sources for future research, making this information accessible for researchers and experts alike, providing support for their studies and actively connecting promising topics.

Behaviour
The KDC streamlines the workflow for the processing of its collections, strengthens its visibility to the outside world and seeks to attract new experts for research.

Environment
The KDC creates a centre of study and a meeting place within an academic setting. It cooperates with (international) scientist, curious volunteers, social organizations, churches and other archives to remain relevant for today and the future.