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Objectives
Nature and Objectives of the Fryske Akademy
Origins of the Fryske Akademy The Fryske Akademy - founded in 1938 - is the scientific center for research and education concerning Fryslân and its people, language and culture, this in the broadest sense of those words. The institution is based in the Coulonhûs in Leeuwarden. You can support our work by becoming a donor/subscriber. Scientific work consists mainly of study. When scientists publish their work, it is unlikely that they will be caught making shocking statements. A lot of 'ifs', 'ands' and 'buts' are more likely, because this is the way science operates. The work of the Fryske Akademy, however, is often of great social interest. Take, for example, the Akademy contribution to the status of the Frisian as equivalent to that of Dutch, the impressive Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal / Dictionary of the Frisian Language. The researchers at the Fryske Akademy have been charting what is characteristic for Fryslân for seventy years. The research is focused on the Frisian language, history and the Frisian community. Over the years, the Akademy has published over 1000 scientific books , thousands of articles and a large number of reports on these subjects.
Fryslân and the Frisian Language
The Frisian language is one of the most important areas where the Akademy conducts research. Fortunately, use of the Frisian language has been on the increase in recent years, also in the language traffic of the government. In some municipality, furthermore, Frisian is the official language for place names. Things were not always this way. In education, for example, Frisian was a neglected stepchild for a long time. It was only after the founding of the Fryske Akademy in 1938 that scientific attention to the Frisian language and culture could be considerably broadened. Over the last seventy years the output of Akademy staff has put Friesland, in all its aspects, on the scientific map for good and all.
An open institution
As indicated by the foregoing, the Akademy is actually an entirely open institution. For and of Fryslân and anyone who is interested in Fryslân. The scientific publications are also written about further in great detail in a generally informative medium published by the Fryske Akademy. Ut de Smidte fan de Fryske Akademy is a magazine that appears every quarter. It contains articles about everything that has to do with the Akademy. And, of course, information about the latest publications. It Beaken is the scientific journal of the Akademy; it appears four times per year and contains scientific contributions on a diversity of themes.