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The National Archives of Belgium
(french: Archives générales du Royaume, nl, Algemeen Rijksarchief, both ) is the main depository of the
State Archives of Belgium (''Archives de l'État''; ''Rijksarchief'') and is located on /, next to the
Mont des Arts
The (French, ) or (Dutch, ), meaning "Hill/Mount of the Arts", is an urban complex and historic site in central Brussels, Belgium, including the Royal Library of Belgium (KBR), the National Archives of Belgium, the Square – Brussels Meeting ...
, in central
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
. This archive repository holds over of archives.
Deposits
The National Archives preserves the archives of the central institutions of the
Burgundian Netherlands
In the history of the Low Countries, the Burgundian Netherlands (french: Pays-Bas bourguignons, nl, Bourgondische Nederlanden, lb, Burgundeschen Nidderlanden, wa, Bas Payis borguignons) or the Burgundian Age is the period between 1384 and ...
, the
Spanish Netherlands
Spanish Netherlands (Spanish: Países Bajos Españoles; Dutch: Spaanse Nederlanden; French: Pays-Bas espagnols; German: Spanische Niederlande.) (historically in Spanish: ''Flandes'', the name "Flanders" was used as a ''pars pro toto'') was the Ha ...
and the
Austrian Netherlands
The Austrian Netherlands nl, Oostenrijkse Nederlanden; french: Pays-Bas Autrichiens; german: Österreichische Niederlande; la, Belgium Austriacum. was the territory of the Burgundian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire between 1714 and 1797. The p ...
until 1795, of the central public authorities of the French period (1795–1815) and of the
United Kingdom of the Netherlands
The United Kingdom of the Netherlands ( nl, Verenigd Koninkrijk der Nederlanden; french: Royaume uni des Pays-Bas) is the unofficial name given to the Kingdom of the Netherlands as it existed between 1815 and 1839. The United Netherlands was cr ...
(1815–1830). It also holds the archives of the central institutions of the national, and later federal government, from the foundation of Belgium (1830) until today, except for the archives of the Ministries of Defense and of Foreign Affairs.
Among the preserved archives are:
* The archives of the government bodies and collateral colleges (Council of State,
Privy Council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
, Council of Finance) and the archives of their legal successors (Royal Council of Philip V, Council of the General Government under
Joseph II
Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 un ...
).
* The archives of the Court of Accounts.
* The archives of the secretariat that assisted the governor general and the government councils (Audience, Secretariat of State and War, German Secretariat of State).
* The subordinate offices created during the Austrian period to disengage the collateral councils from a given issue (Junta for Repayment,
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
Committee, Committee of the Religion Exchequer, etc.)
* The archives of the Courts of Justice:
Great Council of Mechelen
From the 15th century onwards, the Great Council of the Netherlands at Mechelen (Dutch: ''De Grote Raad der Nederlanden te Mechelen''; French: ''le grand conseil des Pays-Bas à Malines''; German: ''der Grosse Rat der Niederlände zu Mecheln'') w ...
,
Council of Troubles
The Council of Troubles (usual English translation of nl, Raad van Beroerten, or es, Tribunal de los Tumultos, or french: Conseil des Troubles) was the special tribunal instituted on 9 September 1567 by Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of ...
, etc.
* The archives of the Creation of
Brussels Park
Brussels Park (french: Parc de Bruxelles, ; nl, Warandepark) is the largest urban public park in central Brussels, Belgium. Formerly known and still sometimes colloquially referred to as the Royal Park (french: Parc royal, nl, Koninklijk Park ...
and the
Royal Square, of the House of Charles of Lorraine, of the Bureau of the Works of the Court, etc.
Beside the public archives, the National Archives also preserves numerous private archives such as the archives of politicians who entrusted their records to the institution. The richness of those archives is also due to the sometimes voluminous archives of the most influential Belgian families handed over to the National Archives:
* The archives of the Houses of Arenberg, Merode, Ursel, etc.
Also worth mentioning:
* The cultural archives: records of the administration of the
Théâtre de la Monnaie
The Royal Theatre of La Monnaie (french: Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, italic=no, ; nl, Koninklijke Muntschouwburg, italic=no; both translating as the "Royal Theatre of the Mint") is an opera house in central Brussels, Belgium. The National O ...
(Brussels, 1771–1816), etc.
* The maps, plans, prints, manuscripts.
* Over two million individual files on foreigners, created as from 1839 when the ('Public Safety Office') was charged with the control of all foreigners on Belgian territory.
* The collection of seal moulds (second-largest collection in the world).
* The digital documents (church registers) accessible via the digital reading room.
* Various publications mainly about the history of Belgium and in particular the history of Brabant, but also series of print sources: pamphlets, edicts and old ordinances, specialist journals and books on archival sciences, inventories of the archives preserved in other repositories in Belgium and abroad.
The National Archives is equipped with a reading room for the public. Researchers, historians, students, people interested in local and family history, etc. can consult the available documents while respecting the privacy of certain information.
A number of exhibitions aimed at valorising the collections are organised in the entry hall and accessible to the public for free.
Colloquia and study days are held on a regular basis for a learned public.
The National Archives also houses the national coordination services of the institution.
Digital reading room
Some church registers from all over Belgium and an increasing number of civil status registers not older than 100 years can be viewed as digital images in the 19 reading rooms of the State Archives, including the reading room of the National Archives.
Furthermore, researchers and victims of Nazi persecution or their relatives can consult, upon request and under certain conditions, the digital copy of the archives of the International Tracing Service (ITS) at the National Archives. This digital copy (over 80 million digital images, stored on roughly six terabytes) pertains to the civil victims of the Nazi regime and contains documents about labour, concentration and extermination camps, registration files about displaced persons, lists about forced labour and a central name index, the originals of which are preserved in
Bad Arolsen
Bad Arolsen (, until 1997 Arolsen, ''Bad'' being the German name for ''Spa'') is a small town in northern Hesse, Germany, in Waldeck-Frankenberg district. From 1655 until 1918 it served as the residence town of the Princes of Waldeck-Pyrmont and ...
, Germany.
Since January 2013, the parish registers and civil status registers are also accessible for free via the website of the State Archives. Other types of digital documents available in the digital reading room or on the website of the State Archives are, for instance: the proceedings of the Councils of Ministers (1918–1979), the statistical yearbook of Belgium (and the
Belgian Congo
The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964.
Colo ...
) since 1870, over 20,000 seal molds, etc.
The reading rooms in the different repositories are accessible to every holder of a valid reader’s card.
See also
*
State Archives
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
(Belgium)
*
Académie Belgo-Espagnole d'Histoire
Bibliography
* Muret P., ''Guide des fonds et collections des Archives générales du Royaume. Archives ecclésiastiques du Brabant : Doyennés, paroisses, collégiales'', série ''Archives générales du Royaume et Archives de l'État dans les Provinces : Guides. Volume 17'', Archives générales du Royaume, Brussels, 1994, 2 volumes.
* Soenen M., ''Guide des fonds et collections des Archives générales du Royaume. Institutions centrales des Pays-Bas sous l'Ancien Régime.'', série ''Archives générales du Royaume et Archives de l'État dans les Provinces : Guides. Volume 15'', Archives générales du Royaume, Brussels, 1994, 589 p.
* Vanrie A., ''Guide des fonds et collections des Archives générales du Royaume. Archives scabinales et communales du Brabant'', série ''Archives générales du Royaume et Archives de l'État dans les Provinces : Guides. Volume 16'', Archives générales du Royaume, Brussels, 1995, 607 p.
* D'Hoore M., ''Archives de particuliers relatives à l'histoire de la Belgique contemporaine (de 1830 à nos jours)'', série ''Archives générales du Royaume et Archives de l'État dans les Provinces : Guides. Volume 40'', Archives générales du Royaume, Brussels, 1998.
* Van Nieuwenhuysen A., completed by Laurent R., ''Guide des fonds et collections des Archives générales du Royaume : Archives de familles et de particuliers'', série ''Archives générales du Royaume et Archives de l'État dans les Provinces : Guides. Volume 29'', Archives générales du Royaume, Brussels, 1999, 233 p.
*
* De Mecheleer L., ''Aperçu des instruments de recherche disponibles à la salle de lecture des Archives générales du Royaume : Situation au 1er janvier 2008'', série ''Archives générales du Royaume et Archives de l'État dans les Provinces : Guides. Volume 67'', Archives générales du Royaume, Brussels, 2008. Accessible on the website of the State Archives.
* Vanden Bosch H., Amara M. et D’Hooghe V., under the direction of Tallier P.-A., ''Guide des sources de la Première Guerre mondiale en Belgique'', (Publ. 4921), Archives générales du Royaume, Brussels, 2010, 1057 p.
References
External links
Official website of the State Archives of Belgium* WorldCat
Belgique. Archives Générales du RoyaumeArchives I Presume? Traces of a colonial past in the State ArchivesOverview of the research instruments available at the reading room of the National Archives(in French)
Research vade mecum about the individual files on foreigners produced by the Sûreté publique (Police des étrangers) (1835-1943)(in French)
{{authority control
Archives in Belgium
Buildings and structures in Brussels
Federal departments and agencies of Belgium