''Trouw'' (; ) is a Dutch daily newspaper appearing in

compact Compact as used in politics may refer broadly to a pact or treaty; in more specific cases it may refer to: * Interstate compact * Blood compact, an ancient ritual of the Philippines * Compact government, a type of colonial rule utilized in British ...

size. It was founded in 1943 as an orthodox Protestant underground newspaper during World War II. Since 2009, it has been owned by DPG Media (known as De Persgroep until 2019). ''Trouw'' received the

European Newspaper Award European Newspaper Award is a design competition for European newspapers. The competition was founded and is organized by newspaper designer Norbert Küpper from Meerbusch, Germany. He co-operates with the journalist magazines '' Medium Magazin'' ...

in 2012. Cees van der Laan is the current editor-in-chief.

History

''Trouw'' is a Dutch word meaning "fidelity", "loyalty", or "allegiance", and is cognate with the English adjective "true". The name was chosen to reflect allegiance and loyalty to God and Country in spite of the German occupation of the Netherlands. ''Trouw'' was started during World War II by members of the Dutch Protestant

resistance Resistance may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics * Either of two similarly named but otherwise unrelated comic book series, both published by Wildstorm: ** ''Resistance'' (comics), based on the video game of the same title ** ''T ...

. Hundreds of people involved in the production and distribution of the newspaper were arrested and killed during the war. The newspaper was published irregularly during the war due to lack of paper. In 1944 the Nazi occupying forces tried to stop publication by rounding up and imprisoning some 23 of the couriers. They issued an ultimatum to the leaders of ''Trouw''; however, the editors did not give in and all of the captured couriers were executed. Amongst the people that lost their life during the war due to their involvement with the newspaper was Trouw co-founder and resistance member

Wim Speelman Wim is a masculine given name or a shortened form of Willem and other names and may refer to: * Wim Anderiesen (1903–1944), Dutch footballer * Wim Aantjes (1923–2015), Dutch politician * Wim Arras (born 1964), Belgian cyclist * Wim Blockmans ...

. After the war the paper became a daily, its allegiance to the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands. By 1967, though, the paper's chief editor made it clear that ''Trouw'' was not to be considered a paper only for Christians: it wanted to be a paper for everyone. In the course of time the percentage of ''Trouw'' readers that belong to the Reformed churches shrank considerably: in 1965 69% of readers belonged to one of those churches, but by 1979 this had dropped to 48%, and by 1999 to 28%. In their own words, in 2005, they intended to "remain a newspaper rooted in a Christian tradition and to be a source of contemplation and inspiration for everyone, churchgoer or not, who feels a need for moral and spiritual orientation." Circulation at the end of the 20th century was a little over 133,000. On 3 February 2005, ''Trouw'' changed its format from

broadsheet A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long Vertical and horizontal, vertical pages, typically of . Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner (format), Berliner and Tabloid (newspaper format), ta ...

. Today, ''Trouw'' is a part of the De Persgroep Nederland, the name given to the former PCM group after the Belgian publishing house

De Persgroep DPG Media Group is a Belgian media company also active in the Netherlands and Denmark. It is owned by the Van Thillo family and employs some 6,000 people. Divisions The DPG Media Group operates through three national subsidiaries: * DPG Media ...

bought a majority stake in PCM in the summer of 2009. ''

NRC Handelsblad ''NRC'', previously called ''NRC Handelsblad'' (), is a daily morning newspaper published in the Netherlands by NRC Media. It is generally accepted as a newspaper of record in the Netherlands. History ''NRC Handelsblad'' was first published on 1 ...

'', '' Het AD'', '' Het Parool'' and ''

de Volkskrant ''de Volkskrant'' (; ''The People's Paper'') is a Dutch daily morning newspaper. Founded in 1919, it has a nationwide circulation of about 250,000. Formerly a leading centre-left Catholic broadsheet, ''de Volkskrant'' today is a medium-sized c ...

'' are also owned by De Persgroep Nederland. NRC Handelsblad was sold before the summer of 2010.

References

External links

* (in Dutch)
Illegale Trouw
(in Dutch), underground issues from 1943–1945 {{Authority control 1943 establishments in the Netherlands Dutch-language newspapers Dutch resistance newspapers Mass media in Amsterdam Daily newspapers published in the Netherlands Newspapers established in 1943 Panama Papers