The Society of the Divine Word, an order of priests and Brothers devoted to preaching the Gospel in foreign lands, was founded in Steyl, Holland, in 1875 by Father Arnold Janssen, a young German Catholic priest. The SVD Mission in New Guinea was founded on Tumleo Island, between Wewak and Aitape, in 1886 by Fr Eberhard Limbrock, together with Fr Joseph Erdweg, Fr Franz Vormann and three Brothers. By 1900 another SVD mission station was established at Bogia, near Madang. SVD missions were established along the North Coast and advanced up the Sepik and Ramu Rivers, leading to exploration and expansion into the New Guinea Highlands.

Files on the general administration of the Society of the Divine Word and on SVD history in PNG. The files include papers of Fr Henry Aufenanger SVD documenting his anthropological interests. Fr Aufenanger lived among the Gende people on the Eastern slopes of the Bismarck Mountains for ten years before WWII. There are also copies of Fr Josef Erdweg’s Letters to the Founder.
See Finding aids for details.