Metadata: Municipal Archives of Kalmthout
Collection
- Country:
- Belgium
- Holding institution:
- Municipal Archives of Kalmthout
- Holding institution (official language):
- Gemeentearchief Kalmthout
- Postal address:
- Kerkeneind 13, 2920 Kalmthout
- Phone number:
- +32 (0)3 620 22 19
- Web address:
- http://www.kalmthout.be/archief_2.html
- Email:
- archief@kalmthout.be
- Reference number:
- MunAr-Kalmthout-Gemeentearchief Kalmthout
- Title:
- Municipal Archives of Kalmthout
- Title (official language):
- Gemeentearchief Kalmthout
- Creator/accumulator:
- Gemeente Kalmthout; Commune de Kalmthout; Municipality of Kalmthout
- Date(s):
- 1885/2016
- Date note:
- Material continues to be added to this collection.
- Extent:
- ca. 60 linear metres
- Scope and content:
- In this fonds we find a number of documents related to the history of the Jewish community in Heide-Kalmthout. The series of “bouwdossiers” (files concerning building permits etc.) is arranged chronologically (by year), but can also be searched by name of the individual who submitted the application. We note the building files of i.a. the synagogue (designed by Jan Frans Beirens and built in 1928) and the yeshiva (designed by Ratzendorfer, but never constructed). They contain, apart from correspondence regarding the application, blueprints of both buildings. The correspondence of the administrations of the municipality (i.a. of the mayor and the college of aldermen), arranged chronologically, undoubtedly also contains relevant information. File no. 631 contains, for example, the ‘register of Jews’. Lastly, we point out the collection of ca. 800 post cards concerning Heide-Kalmthout, depicting not only streetscapes and tourists but also the five so-called “Jewish villas”, constructed and inhabited by wealthy Jewish families from Antwerp.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- The municipality is one of the levels of government with which citizens most often come into contact. Its tasks and competences were first established by the decree of 14 December 1789, and by the order of 19 Frimaire year IV [1795-96]. After Belgian independence, the legal framework was provided by the Gemeentewet of 1836 and later the ‘Nieuwe Gemeentewet’ (1988). Since 2002, the organic law regarding municipalities is a competence of the Regions. Until 1980, municipalities were supervised by the provincial and central authorities. Today, there is a division of powers between the federal and regional governments. A municipality is led by a mayor, who is also the head of the local police. He/she is assisted by a college of aldermen, selected from the municipal council. Currently, there are 589 municipalities in Belgium. Before the large-scale fusions in the 1970s – in other words, for a large part of Belgian history – there were 2359 municipalities. The municipality had/has, among others, competences regarding the management of its assets, institutions and staff; municipal revenue and expenditure; Civil Registry; health and safety in public places; urban planning and environment; public works; militia; education; elections etc. This is reflected in the sources held in municipal and city archives. Important general sources include the (sometimes published) minutes of meetings and records of the municipal council and college of aldermen (often indexed by subject). We also refer to all kinds of administrative reports and general correspondence. The series of sources of the Civil Registry (e.g. birth, marriage and death certificates, population registers, registers of arrival and departure) are crucial for historical research on individuals. Relevant for this guide are notably the alien registers (since 1933), and the alien files preserved in some larger cities. Of major importance are also the accounts, correspondence and other material regarding the recognised religions. They contain information on their operation, budgets, assets but also the appointment of ministers, donations to religious communities, various conflicts etc. Building permits and files regarding environmental permits contain information and usually blueprints of buildings. Lastly, in many municipal and city archives there are specific series of sources regarding policy during the First and Second World War. We mention e.g. the various anti-Jewish ordinances, documents regarding the spoliation of the Jews, the so-called Jodenregister (register of Jews), correspondence related to the implementation of the anti-Jewish policies etc. (J. Art & E. Vanhaute (ed.), Inleiding tot de lokale geschiedenis van de 19de en de 20ste eeuw, Gent, Mens & Cultuur, 2003; P. van den Eeckhout, “De gemeenten en de lokale openbare instellingen”, in P. van den Eeckhout & G. Vanthemsche (ed.), Bronnen voor de studie van het hedendaagse België 19e – 21e eeuw. Tweede herziene en uitgebreide uitgave, Brussel, Koninklijke Commissie voor Geschiedenis / Commission Royale d’Histoire, 2009, pp. 31-92.)
- Access points: locations:
- Heide-Kalmthout
- Finding aids:
- R. Neys, Gemeente-archief Kalmthout. Inventaris Hedendaags Archief. Bijgewerkte versie 1999., [1999]. A list is available for the collection of postcards.
- Yerusha Network member:
- State Archives of Belgium