How do you prove a crime when there are hardy any traces? This question has occupied researchers for centuries. In the Netherlands, this quest led to the establishment of a small forensic laboratory, which grew into an internationally recognised knowledge institute. The history of the Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI) shows how forensic science has been contributing to fact-finding in criminal investigations for decades.

One of the oldest tools in the fight against crime is the fingerprint. As early as two hundred years ago, researchers discovered that fingerprints are unique to every individual. Even identical twins differ from one another! In the nineteenth century, the idea arose to use fingerprints found at a crime scene to identify suspects.

Thanks to the pioneering work of the Argentine detective Juan Vucetich, who was the first to develop an effective search system, a murder was solved using fingerprints for the first time in 1892. In the Netherlands, courts first accepted a fingerprint as evidence in a criminal case in 1911. To this day, fingerprints continue to play an important role in forensic examinations.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, forensic science developed rapidly. New fields, such as toxicology, blood group analysis, and microscopic trace analysis, increasingly helped to solve crimes. In the Netherlands, only a few specialised police experts were engaged in this work, including Co van Ledden Hulsebosch, a pioneer of Dutch forensic science.

After World War II, forensic science in the Netherlands took an important step forward: in 1945, the government commissioned forensic scientist Wiebo Froentjes to set up a forensic laboratory. This was done in the dining hall of a former monastery on Raamweg in The Hague.

The first case Froentjes investigates immediately attracts international attention. He examines the paintings of master forger Han van Meegeren, who sells works under the names of famous seventeenth-century painters, such as Johannes Vermeer. Through scientific analysis, Froentjes demonstrates that these are forgeries, thereby establishing the reputation of the young laboratory.

In the years that follow, the number of assignments increase and the team grows. In addition to pathologist Jan Zeldenrust, a chemist and a pharmacist join the laboratory, among others. By 1951, the laboratory numbers twelve empolyees, who together investigate over two thousand cases. That same year, the institute splits into a Forensic Laboratory for Natural Science and a Forensic Medical Laboratory, later known as the Laboratory for Forensic Pathology.

The following decades are marked by further growth and technological progress. With the development of increasingly advanced equipment, scientists refine their methods and analyse increasingly smaller traces with increasing accuracy. Alongside the conventional microscope, the comparison microscope is introduced, allowing scientists to directly compare two objects – such as shell casings from a shooting incident. The electron microscope makes it possible to magnify structures up to one hundred thousand times. To make the invisible visible, scientists use ultraviolet and infrared light and X-rays. Later, techniques such as chromatography and spectrometry help to separate mixtures of chemical substances and identify them accurately.

In the early 1970s, sixty employees work at both laboratories. The building on Raamweg is bursting at the seams, and in 1973 the institute moves to Volmerlaan in Rijswijk. Technological developments lead to the expansion of the forensic field. For instance, DNA analysis emerges as a new discipline in the late 1980s. In 1988, DNA analysis is conducted for the first time in the criminal investigation of the so-called “WTC rapist”. Partly based on this examination, the court acquits an innocent suspect. In the 1990s, with the rise of the internet, computer forensics also grows into an independent and important part of forensic science.

In 1999, the Forensic Laboratory and the Laboratory for Forensic Pathology merge once again, forming a single institute: the NFI.

Developments in the field of forensic science continue. Analyses become increasingly faster, and we can achieve more with fewer traces. Take DNA analysis, for example: in 1999, a comparison of a DNA profile with the newly established Dutch DNA database immediately leads to a breakthrough in an investigation into the rape and murder of a teenage girl. DNA from an unknown man is found under the victim’s fingernails. The DNA profile is entered into the database and, a few months later, matches a suspect who had been arrested for a another sexual offence.

Meanwhile, the institute’s growth once again requires larger facilities. In 2004, approximately 350 employees move to a new building on Laan van Ypenburg in The Hague, which is officially opened a year later by Queen Beatrix. The new location provides space for modern labs and specialised teams, enabling us to meet the growing demand for forensic examinations.

The NFI is evolving from an organisation primarily conducting forensic examinations into an (inter)national knowledge institute. In addition to answering forensic questions in criminal investigations and innovation, we increasingly focus on developing, documenting, and sharing knowledge. Since 2015, the NFI has been part of the Dutch Network of Government Knowledge Institutions (RKI), in which public knowledge organisations collaborate on societal challenges by connecting knowledge and making it more widely applicable.

Today, our institute has more than eight hundred employees, and provides forensic examinations in tens of thousands of cases each year. “Whereas Dutch forensic science was lagging behind at the beginning of the last century, you could now say that we are among the leaders,” says Annemieke de Vries, Director of Science and Technology. We continue to innovate and invest in knowledge, technology, and collaboration with national and international partners. Together, we strengthen forensic science to be ready for the forensic demands of tomorrow.