Skip to main content Skip to page footer

King Willem-Alexander. Photo: ©RVD - Gemmy Woud-Binnendijk

King Willem-Alexander visits Fryske Akademy

On Wednesday morning, 16 October, His Majesty the King will pay a working visit to Leeuwarden dedicated to the Frisian language and culture. At the Fryske Akademy, at historical and literary centre Tresoar and at training institute and publisher Afûk, the King will talk to Frisians about the meaning the Frisian language has for them and about the elements that characterise Frisian culture.

Fryske Akademy

The working visit will start at the Fryske Akademy, where the development of Frisian as an official language and scientific research into the Frisian language, history and culture will take centre stage. The King will speak with a provincial deputy, the management and a number of researchers of the institute about the importance and elaboration of the ‘Bestjoersôfspraak Fryske Taal en Kultuer’. This lays down how central government and the province of Fryslân will work in the coming years to protect and promote the Frisian language and culture. The scholars also talk about their research in the field of Frisian language and culture and about cooperation with partners at home and abroad.

Tresoar

The King will walk to Tresoar and get an explanation of some of the items in the collection. At Tresoar, Friesland's past is stored in an archive, a library and a museum. In the reading room, a legal text in Old Frisian is recited, to which two Frisian poets then reflect. Afterwards, the King attends part of a children's lecture from the teaching programme ‘Threads to the past’. Tresoar staff and pupils chose an object that is important to them and to which a story is attached that connects people and events in the present and the past. In the teaching programme, pupils search for these stories and for the thread that connects them to the past.

Afûk

The visit to Afûk starts with a tour of the shop and an explanation of the collection of books in and about Frisian and Friesland and of the activities in the field of children's literature. The working visit concludes with a discussion on the meaning of Frisian in everyday life. An expert by experience from the mental health sector talks about the importance of the Frisian language in health care, a language trainer explains the connection between language and identity and a student who took Frisian as an optional subject talks about the use of the Frisian language by young people. In the concluding discussion, the use of Frisian in the judiciary and in contact with the police are also discussed.