19 June 2026 marked exactly 25 years since the launch of the Dutch version of Wikipedia. Wikipedia is an important source for free access to information. Freedom of information is a purpose to which the KB is also committed.
25 years of Wikipedia
On 15 January 2001, the English language Wikipedia officially launched. Other languages swiftly followed. On 19 June 2001, the Dutch Wikipedia went on the air. These days, the Dutch Wikipedia contains more than 2.2 million articles. This makes it the sixth largest Wikipedia of all language versions.
In 2025, the KB archived the full text of the Dutch Wikipedia. Free access to information is under strain in the entire world these days. Therefore, it is important to save these sources for the future.
Wikimedia Commons
Wikipedia also supplies images and audio in its media bank Wikimedia Commons. This contains over 140 million files now, all of which are free to reuse. The KB contributes material to this media bank, such as digital reproductions of medieval manuscripts. To facilitate this, the KB has a dedicated Wikimedia coordinator, Olaf Janssen. In this interview, he elaborates on the work of Wikimedia Commons and what this means for the accessibility of information:
