The Davidsfonds is a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

organisation in

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

with the purpose of promoting the

Flemish Flemish may refer to: * Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium * Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium *Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium * Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...

culture in the areas of literature, history and art. The Davidsfonds was founded in

Leuven Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipalit ...

, Belgium on 15 January 1875, with the

motto A motto (derived from the Latin language, Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian language, Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a Sentence (linguistics), sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of a ...

''Voor Godsdienst, taal en volk'' (E: For religion, language and people). It was named after

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

and professor Jean-Baptist David. Together with the

Vermeylenfonds {{refimprove, date=May 2021 The Vermeylenfonds is a non-profit Flemish cultural socialist organization. The Vermeylenfonds was founded in 1945, in Brussels with the aim of studying and of continuing the work of August Vermeylen. The Vermeylenfonds ...

(

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

) and the

Willemsfonds The Willemsfonds, named after Jan Frans Willems, is a non-profit cultural organisation founded in the 19th century to promote Flemish culture and language in Belgium. In order to achieve this goal, the organisation encouraged Flemish folk song, org ...

( liberal), it promoted the Flemish culture, resulting in a growing feeling of Flemish identity. In the 20th century, the activities of the Davidsfonds, Vermeylenfonds and Willemsfonds reflected a divided society, based upon political ideology. Called "

pillarization Pillarisation (a calque from the ) is the vertical separation of society into groups by religion and associated political beliefs. These societies were (and in some areas, still are) divided into two or more groups known as pillars (). The best-k ...

" (Dutch: verzuiling), Catholic, socialist, and liberal interests formed parallel organizations (

political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

s, cultural, and social circles) to promote their interests. While sometimes leading to wasteful re-duplication the pillars also supported each other (e.g., in labor

strike Strike may refer to: People *Strike (surname) * Hobart Huson, author of several drug related books Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm * Airstrike, ...

s) when it furthered their own interests. As of 2005, the organization had 60,000 members and 575 divisions. It organizes cultural activities and publishes a magazine and books.

External links

*
Davidsfonds
i
ODIS - Online Database for Intermediary Structures
{{Authority control Foundations based in Belgium Flanders Catholicism in Belgium

See also

External links