National Archives of Belgium

The National Archives is the seat of the Belgian State Archives. It is located on rue de Ruysbroeck in Brussels, close to the central railway station and the Sablon Square. There, about 70 kilometers ongoing archive are kept.

Tasks

The National Archives preserves the archives of the central institutions of the Burgundian Netherlands and the Spanish and Austrian Netherlands until 1795, as well as the archives of the central public services from the French period ( 1795-1815 ) and the time of the Kingdom of the United Netherlands ( 1815 to 1830 ) on. Also there are kept the archives of the central institutions of the National and later federal government from the establishment of Belgium (1830 ) to the present, with the exception of the archives of the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign Office. The archives located include:

  • The archives of the government agencies and Kollateralräte (Council of State, Privy Council, Finance Council ) as well as the archives of their legal successor (Royal Council of Philip V, Council of the General Government under Joseph II ).
  • The archives of the Chamber of Accounts.
  • The fund 's Office, who assisted the Governor-General and the Government Councils ( audience, government and war secretary, German Secretary of State ).
  • The archival subordinate authorities, which were created in the Austrian time to relieve the Kollateralräte from the processing of certain matters ( Junta of debt, Jesuitenkommittee, cash and Religionskommittee, etc. )
  • The archives of the Tribunals: Great advice from Mechelen, Blutrat ( "Council of Troubles" ), etc.
  • The archives of the creation of the park and the Royal Square, the house Charles Alexander of Lorraine, the Office of the works of the court, etc.

In addition to the archives of the public sector, the National Archives also preserves numerous private archives such as personal archives of politicians who have submitted them to the State Archives on. More extensive funds are the sometimes very extensive family archives that were made by influential families the country.

So are located in the National Archives include the following funds:

  • Fund of the houses Arenberg, Merode, Ursel, etc.

Also worth mentioning:

  • Cultural Archives: Archives of the management of the opera house La Monnaie / De Munt (Brussels, 1771-1816 ), etc.
  • Maps, plans, charts, manuscripts.
  • About two million foreigners personal files that were created from 1839, when the service of Public Security was tasked with monitoring all located on the territory of foreigners.
  • The collection of casts Seal ( second largest collection of its kind in the world ).
  • The available in the digital reading room digital documents ( church records ).
  • Various works, mostly about the history of Belgium, and in particular the history of Brabant, but also a number of printed sources: pamphlets, old edicts and ordinances, technical publications and journals on archival sciences, and inventories of archives in other state archive services in Belgium or abroad are kept.
  • Etc.

The National Archives has a reading room, which is open to the public. There can view some of the documents, historians, students, history buffs (eg for local and family history), etc., taking into account the private nature of certain information. Various exhibitions to enhance the value of the collections are freely accessible to the public and are usually seen in the lobby of the General State Archives. Symposia and seminars are regularly organized for the different target groups of the State Archives. The building of the General State Archives also houses the central co-ordination services of the facility.

Digital Reading Room

Around 24 000 Church records from Belgium and civil records, which are not older than 100 years, may in digital format in the 19 reading rooms of the State Archives, ie including the General State Archives can be viewed. Nachforscher, victims of Nazi persecution or their relatives may in Bad Arolsen Germany, browse, in the National Archives on request and under certain conditions found there a digital copy of the archives of the International Tracing Service (ITS). This digital copy (over 80 million digital images, with a storage capacity of a total of approximately six terabytes ) of the Acts of civilian victims of the Nazi regime contains documents about labor, concentration and Exterminationslager, registrations of persecution, forced labor list and a central name index.

Since January 2013, the church books and civil records on the website of the State Archives are available. Other digitized documents are also in the digital reading room or on the website of the National Archives available for inspection: the minutes of the Council of Ministers (1918-1979), the Statistical Yearbook of Belgium ( and in the Belgian Congo ) since 1870, over 20 000 seal casts, etc. The reading Rooms are open to all persons who are in possession of a valid library card.

State Archives in Belgium Philip V of Spain Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine Parish register
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