War Memorial
During World War II, 22 Tilburg students died during bombing raids, resistance activities, in concentration camps, and from the effects of forced labor, accident or disease. Nothing more was originally known of them than a name and a date of death. There is a monument in the Cobbenhagen Building that keeps their memory alive.
The Cobbenhagen Center (no longer in existence) traced the history of those who died; the design is by Maarten Meevis (Kinkorn). Included in the monument are candles donated by the Cobbenhagen candle factory.
There is also a digital monument where the 22 students are given a story and a face. The monument is a tribute to the wartime university community but also a means to deepen the content of the university's motto Understanding Society, and to get today's students thinking about freedom and education. What does it really mean to study? How can you prepare for a future in society? How do you respond to unexpected situations? What do you stand for when everything taken for granted falls away? Questions that were vital then and still play an important role within the university and society today.
More about history and academic heritage
The Tilburg University academic heritage is a very diverse set of archives, visual materials, collections, devices, recorded stories, et cetera that relate to the history of the university.