'In verzet tegen "Duitschlands klatergoud’ Pleidooien voor een nationaal toneel, 1800-1840

In the first half of the nineteenth century many publications pleaded the case that authors should be encouraged to publish more plays originally written in the Dutch language. The general complaint was that there was an overwhelming amount of German and French translations and that the national theatre was in a miserable state. In this article the initiatives to stimulate Dutch national theatre (by the government, literary societies, prize contests, the writing of treatises) are explored. It is argued that these initiatives indeed had some effect, especially if one looks at the production of historical plays.