Description

In 1864, Prime Minister Thorbecke reorganised the education system. There were Higher Secondary Schools in addition to the existing Gymnasia. And in addition, a state examination for civil servants for the Dutch East Indies. This laid the foundations for the Indian Institution.
Delft founded a municipal HBS that gave access to both the Polytechnic School for Engineers and that Institution.

Why did Delft want to go to the East? What for, and by whom?

The highly profitable spice trade by Spaniards and Portuguese was also attractive to the Dutch in the late 16th century, as they controlled the Baltic Sea trade and were familiar with the trade routes. The Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, initiative of Johan van Oldenbarneveld, was granted a monopoly on that trade by the Republic in 1602, and was then -in what is now Indonesia- its only representative for two hundred years.

After the dissolution of the VOC, the island kingdom had to be governed. The Indische Instelling was the only (municipal) education for civil servants in Indonesia. Professors and students populated the city and the buildings on Oude Delft.

The collection of objects that teachers and former students brought back were the impetus for a special ethnographic collection that served as instructional material at that school. This later gave rise to the Ethnographic Museum Nusantara.

What now? Dark clouds are gathering over the museum, which may perish in the vicissitudes of the recession

10.00 hrs Prior to the lecture: Histechnica General Assembly (in the Faculty Room of the Science Centre)

10.30 hrs Reception with coffee
11.00 hrs Lecture by Drs J.L.W. van Leur
11.45 hrs Pause
12.15 hrs Continuation of the lecture with a concluding discussion
12.45 hrs End of meeting

Directions:
From motorway A13 Rotterdam or The Hague, exit Delft. Leave IKEA behind you. Go straight ahead at first traffic light, turn left at second (T-junction). Keep right and turn right at the next traffic lights (Mijnbouwstraat). After approx. 100 m, you will see the former mining engineering building on your right. There is some parking next to the building, and also on the service road of the Julianalaan opposite. Public transport via NS Delft Centraal, then bus 62, 80 or 81 (stop Michiel de Ruyterweg) or walk (approx. 20 min).

Speaker(s)

In his working life, Drs J.L.W. van Leur was a teacher and conrector at the Stanislascollege in Delft. A co-founder of the Ethnographic Society, he was its president for 40 years. He has since been acting as honorary registrar of births, marriages and deaths in Delft for 15 years.

We encourage you to visit Nusantara on Agatha Square, next to the Prinsenhof, after visiting Histechnica. [Parking under the railway or in the Phoenix garage]

Location

Science Centre, Mijnbouwstraat 120, Delft

(Lecture hall)

Organiser

History of Technology

Histechnica

Name and contact details for information

Further information from L.A. Hissink at the e-mail address below.

hissinkla@planet.nl