CBG|Centrum voor familiegeschiedenis

What CBG|Centrum voor familiegeschiedenis does

CBG|Centrum voor familiegeschiedenis is a Dutch independent foundation (Stichting Centraal Bureau voor Genealogie te Den Haag) founded in 1945 and headquartered in The Hague. It operates as the central Dutch institution for genealogical and family history research, holding the legally-authorized monopoly on the Nationaal Register van Overledenen (NRO), the national register of deceased persons from 1939 to the present. The organization is funded as a "Dienst van Algemeen Economisch Belang" (public service obligation) by the Ministry of OCW, supplemented by commercial revenues.

CBG operates an interconnected suite of digital platforms: WieWasWie (genealogical search across 30+ Dutch archives), CBG Verzamelingen (digitized collections including bidprentjes, family archives, war sources, and the Indisch Oud-Paspoortarchief), CBG Familiewapens (~150,000 coat of arms entries), CBG Familienamen (320,000+ Dutch surnames), CBG Bibliotheek (digital genealogical literature), and the NRO bulk matching and verification service. The organization also publishes Gen.Magazine quarterly with a 14,000-copy circulation and produces the long-running television program Verborgen Verleden in collaboration with NTR since 1988.

The business model blends multiple revenue streams: annual Vriendschap membership subscriptions (€23.55-€61.80), per-search NRO extract fees (€4.65/search), day/month access passes, B2B death verification services for financial institutions, heir research for notaries and the Rijksvastgoedbedrijf (€35.45+), media research services for television producers, and core government subsidy. The customer base spans ~13,000 individual "Vrienden" (members), professional legal users, government agencies, broadcasters, and heritage/scientific researchers across the Dutch diaspora in Europe, North America, Oceania, South America, and Southeast Asia.

Name

CBG|Centrum voor familiegeschiedenis

Legal name

Stichting Centraal Bureau voor Genealogie te Den Haag

Website

https://cbg.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

1945

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CBG|Centrum voor familiegeschiedenis is a Dutch foundation founded in 1945 that operates the government's authorized National Register of Deceased Persons and a suite of digital genealogical research platforms (WieWasWie, CBG Verzamelingen, Familiewapens, Familienamen), serving individual family historians, notaries, government agencies, broadcasters, and heritage researchers across the Dutch diaspora.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Genealogical Research Services

NAICS

Libraries and Archives (51921)

akta.pro primary industry

Special Libraries (Law, Medical, Corporate, Government) Operations (EDAEAGAD)

Keywords

• Genealogical research
• Family history databases
• Death verification services
• Heir research services
• Dutch ancestry records

Headquarters

HQ city

Den Haag

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Subscription (Vriendschap): Annual membership subscriptions providing access to Gen.Magazine, digital collections, and premium databases like WieWasWie. Multiple tiers available from digital-only to full classic friendship membership.
2. NRO Extracts: Per-search fees for requesting extracts from the National Register of Deceased Persons. Also includes annual subscriptions for person lists and name counting services.
3. Day and Month Access: Day access passes for CBG Collections and monthly access passes for WieWasWie, providing temporary access to digital resources.
4. Business Services: Death verification services for businesses, heir research for notaries and government, and media research services for television programs.
5. Government Subsidy: Financial support from the national government (Ministerie van OCW) as a Dienst van Algemeen Economisch Belang, supplemented by product and service revenues.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

CBG is the central Dutch institution for family history research, providing access to proprietary genealogical databases including the Nationaal Register van Overledenen (NRO), WieWasWie, CBG Verzamelingen, and specialized collections like the Indisch Oud-Paspoortarchief and Familiewapens database. It offers expert research assistance, publishes Gen.Magazine quarterly, and delivers B2B services including death verification for businesses, heir research for legal professionals, and media research for television programs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• WieWasWie Search platform providing access to genealogical information from local, regional, and provincial archives including civil registry records from over 30 archives. Used by amateur and professional family historians for ancestry research.
• CBG Verzamelingen Online portal containing digitized collections including bidprentjes, Indisch Oud-Paspoortarchief, family advertisements, war sources, family archives, and the Algemeen Politieblad. Used by individual researchers and academic heritage researchers.

Quantifiable outcome

• Serving approximately 13,000 Vrienden members plus donations
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Historische Database Suriname en de Cariben (HDSC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHDSC is a collaborative database project that CBG supports. The database contains slave registers, migration registers, censuses, marriage, birth, and death records processed into public databases searchable through National Archives of Suriname, Netherlands, and Curaçao. CBG hosts the annual participant day.
• NTRcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-running collaboration since 1988 on the Verborgen Verleden (Hidden Past) television program where CBG genealogists research family histories for celebrities.
• Nationaal ArchiefcoreTechnology or IntegrationCBG is housed within the National Archive building. The study room for non-digitized collections is located there. Collaboration on collection digitization and verification services.
• Nationaal Archief SurinameminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNew collaboration in the context of the Onderzoeksnetwerk Familiegeschiedenis en Migratie (OFM) research network for international family history research.
• Nationaal ArchiefcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerPhysical non-digitized CBG collections can be consulted in the study room of the National Archive. The Archive also provides user profiles and visitor passes for access.
• Stadsarchief AmsterdamminorGTM or Marketing PartnerArchive institution that has used CBG's verification service for opening personal cards and index data for publication.
• Indische Genealogische Vereniging (IGV)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorIGV members receive special Digitale CombiVriendschap subscription rates. Joint VriendenVrijdag research days focused on Indisch/Dutch East Indies ancestry research.
• Stichting voor Surinaamse GenealogieminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSSG members receive special Digitale CombiVriendschap subscription rates. Collaboration on Surinamese genealogical research and HDSC database contributions.
• Den Haag WerktminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerMunicipal organization that CBG works with on the Person Cards department for processing NRO requests.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• FamilySearch: FamilySearch is a free, large-scale genealogy service operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, offering billions of historical records and a global family tree. It is a broad incumbent in the family-history space and overlaps with CBG's mission to make Dutch records accessible, though CBG retains regulatory authority over the NRO.
• Ancestry: Ancestry is the largest commercial genealogy platform globally, with extensive Dutch and European record collections and a subscription-based DNA offering. It is a broad incumbent competing with CBG for paid consumer research and DNA-driven family-history interest.

Regional players

• FindMyPast: FindMyPast is a UK-focused genealogy platform with growing European record collections. It is a regional peer in the broader European genealogy market, targeting overlapping Dutch diaspora audiences in the UK, US, Canada, Australia, and South Africa.

Direct peers

• MyHeritage: MyHeritage is a global online genealogy platform with family-tree software, DNA testing, and historical record search. It directly competes with CBG's digital product offerings for Dutch researchers and the diaspora, particularly through Record Matching and SuperSearch features.
• Genealogie Online: Genealogie Online is a Dutch online platform that publishes family trees and aggregated genealogical records, widely used by Dutch amateur researchers. It is a direct competitor for hobbyist audience attention and complements or competes with CBG's digital collection strategy.
• Open Archives: Open Archives is a Dutch/Belgian online genealogy aggregator that combines civil records from multiple archives into a single search experience. It is a direct functional peer to CBG's WieWasWie platform, targeting the same Dutch-language family-history market with a similar data-aggregation model.

Others

• 23andMe: 23andMe is a consumer DNA-testing and ancestry-composition service that overlaps with CBG's audience at the discovery stage of family history research. It is an adjacent, enabling player rather than a direct archive competitor, but shifts consumer expectations toward DNA-driven genealogy.
• Rijksvastgoedbedrijf: The Rijksvastgoedbedrijf is a Dutch government agency that contracts CBG for heir research on unclaimed estates. It is a key B2B customer rather than a competitor, but operates in the same Dutch administrative ecosystem intersecting with estate and identity verification.
• Stadsarchief Amsterdam: Stadsarchief Amsterdam is a municipal archive that uses CBG's verification services to open personal cards for publication. It is both a peer institution in the Dutch heritage ecosystem and a customer, with overlapping collections covering Amsterdam civil registry records.
• Nationaal Archief: The Nationaal Archief is the Dutch national archive and CBG's physical host at Prins Willem-Alexanderhof in The Hague. It is a partner ecosystem enabler rather than a competitor, providing the physical study room where CBG's non-digitized collections are consulted.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CBG_nl
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCmGjKQtt_aPXmANeuxhqfIg
• Facebookfacebook.com/familiegeschiedenis
• LinkedInnl.linkedin.com/company/familiegeschiedenis
• Instagraminstagram.com/cbg_familiegeschiedenis

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CBG|Centrum voor familiegeschiedenis