This collection has been built around the theme ‘The Dutch Baltic trade in the period 1600-1850’. For this purpose various materials have been digitized, ranging from maps to commemorative medals and from paintings to archival records. The objects illustrate various aspects of the Baltic trade.

This digital collection has been put together at the initiative of the Directie der Oostersche Handel en Reederijen (The Directorate of the Baltic Trade and Shipping Companies) and the  Koninklijke Bibliotheek (the National Library of the Netherlands). Because the Directie doesn't own any collections apart from its own archive, the objects are taken from more than thirty institutions in the Netherlands and abroad. The subject - the Baltic Trade - rather than one specific collection, has determined the choice of the objects.