Nyenrode Business University

Never before there has so much public attention for the black pages of the Dutch colonial past and their repercussions in the present. With this, we are gaining more and more insight into the far-reaching effects of colonialism on the creation and perpetuation of important institutions and political or administrative relationships within Dutch society. This social trend is now also reaching universities and other educational institutions. Commissioned by Nyenrode Business University, Utrecht University is mapping the extent to which the effects of colonialism also permeated Nyenrode's founding. 

This research, conducted by Dr Jorrit Steehouder, focuses primarily on answering the question of how within the Dutch entrepreneurial network from which Nyenrode emerged, the perceived Dutch colonial future played a role in the design and creation of the Netherlands Foreign Education Institute (NOIB), Nyenrode's predecessor in the period 1941-1950. With what ideas and visions of the future did the key players involved set to work? How did these ideas work through in the founding of the NOIB, its curriculum and student culture? The results of this study will be compiled in a report that will be presented to Nyenrode's Board of Governors.

Masters in Metal

With over 15,000 members, Koninklijke Metaalunie (Royal Metal Union) is one of the most important business interest associations in the Netherlands. The association, dating back to the Bond voor Smedenpatroons (Union of Smith's patrons) founded in 1903, connects entrepreneurs in the SME metal industry, an industry that employs nearly 200,000 workers and has a turnover of over EUR 30 billion.
In spring 2023, Koninklijke Metaalunie commissioned a study to be published on the occasion of the organisation's 125th anniversary in 2028. The study will focus on the craftsmanship of SME metalworkers. How did the industry develop in the twentieth century, what opportunities and threats did the entrepreneurs encounter and how did they shape and adapt their craftsmanship under changing socio-economic and political conditions? And what role did the jubilee entrepreneurs' organisation play in this process? The study aims to answer the question of how generations of SME entrepreneurs shaped their ambitions and love for the profession.
The study will be conducted by Dr Bram Bouwens. Among other things, he will be able to make use of unique archive material preserved at Koninklijke Metaalunie.

The Teutonic Order

The 'New Light on the Nobility' project investigates the role of the nobility in Dutch society over a long period of time and is carried out by Dr Renger de Bruin. The research runs along two tracks: the history of the Utrecht nobility from the early Middle Ages to the present, which has now been completed, and a study of the members of the Teutonic Order (Ridderlijke Duitsche Orde Balije van Utrecht, RDO) between 1640 and the mid-20th century. The latter is a so-called prosopographical study, which relies on collecting comparable data on a particular group in order to draw conclusions. De Bruin carried out such a study for his PhD thesis on Utrecht politics between 1795 and 1813, in which he mapped members of the city government in this way. The collection of data on birth and death, marriages, children, place of residence, religion, career, wealth and income is now much easier than at the time due to online files, but the number of people to be researched for this study is more than twice as large (about 250).
Some of the research has already been presented at international conferences and has been or will be published in conference proceedings, in English, German and French. These concerns the regional origins, military careers and marriages of members of the order as well as contributions on religious identity, the function as a noble network and the gift policy of the current order.