About us

More than 10 years of experience in building connections between Germany and the Netherlands

Our story

How well do you know your neighbors? When Tothem founders Derk Marseille and Bertus Bouwman met as Dutch journalists in Berlin in 2013, they quickly agreed on one thing. As neighbors, we can do much more for each other than the proverbial borrowing of a cup of sugar. If we know better about each other what we are good at, we can not only advance ourselves, together we can have a good impact on our environment.

So it didn’t take long for Duitslandnieuws.nl to be born. With almost daily news items and background stories in Dutch to deepen the relationship with Germany. Five years later, the German-language NiederlandeNachrichten.de followed with a focus on innovation from the Netherlands with exciting experience stories from German and Dutch entrepreneurs making each other better.

Tothem now consists of a team of German-Dutch experts who love nothing more than to break the clichés.

We like to spark you with our enthusiasm for a better neighborly relationship. Become part of our unique German-Dutch network through which we make connections between people, companies and organizations.

Our mission

Deepen and strengthen the bond between Germany and the Netherlands

With Tothem, we improve the relationship between Germany and the Netherlands by getting to know each other better so that we can support each other in overcoming the biggest transitions of our time. We connect pioneers from German and Dutch business, science and politics through storytelling and events. In this way, we enable both countries to accelerate their efforts to achieve a more digital, sustainable and equal Europe. We strengthen this valuable network every day with articles and videos via our crossborder platforms Duitslandnieuws and Niederlande Nachrichten.

Our vision

Break the glass border between Germany and the Netherlands

Why does that German businessman with whom I recently had such a friendly conversation react so coldly to my attractive proposal? Why does that Dutchman always deviate from what we agreed in the contract?

The border between the Netherlands and Germany seems little more than the border sign you see in a flash as you drive along the Autobahn to the neighbors. A relic from days gone by.

But in practice, the border is still bothering us everywhere. When we want to go into depth in our conversation, but we can’t come up with the right word. When we don’t understand the other person’s reaction. When, as a supplier, we sense that we have less of a chance across the border because we are slightly different. It is an invisible boundary of glass that must be broken.

With Tothem, we have been active in this border area of misunderstanding, ignorance and missed opportunities for more than 10 years. Where many drop out disappointed, we turn this frustration into bridging this gap.

The stories and videos on our platforms Niederlande Nachrichten (German-language) and Duitslandnieuws (Dutch-language) turn ignorance into inspiration so that we feel like working together as neighbors on the great challenges of today that we cannot solve on our own. We eliminate misunderstandings by discussing where we differ and how we can best complement each other.

Tothem is building a strong network of German-Dutch pioneers to work together as good neighbors towards a more digital, sustainable, prosperous and equal Europe.