[Section Fonds administratifs] Religions, burials and funeral transport

Collection description

Collection

Country:: Belgium

Holding institution:: Archives of the City of Brussels

Holding institution (official language):: Archives de la Ville de Bruxelles

Postal address:: Huidevettersstraat 65 / Rue des Tanneurs 65, 1000 Bruxelles

Phone number:: +32 2 279 53 20

Web address:: http://archives.bruxelles.be

Email:: archives@brucity.be

Reference number:: ArCity-Brussels-[Section Fonds administratifs] Cultes, inhumations et transports funèbres

Title:: [Section Fonds administratifs] Religions, burials and funeral transport

Title (official language):: [Section Fonds administratifs] Cultes, inhumations et transports funèbres

Creator/accumulator:: Ville de Bruxelles; Stad Brussel; City of Brussels

Date(s):: 1785/1959

Date note:: late 18th - mid 20th century

Extent:: 109 linear metres

Scope and content:: This fonds contains many files that are of great interest for our guide. They concern all aspects of the organisation and funding of Judaism as an officially recognised religion, at the local (municipal) level i.e. the city of Brussels. The files in this fonds are dated ca. 1806-1965. The relevant files concern i.a. the payment of the salaries, pensions and other allocations of the ministers of religion and of teachers in the “free schools” (i.e. non-State schools); inquiries on the places of worship in Brussels; the purchase of real estate by Jewish communities; construction of various buildings (synagogues etc.); subsidies, loans, funding etc. for construction and renovation works to various buildings (synagogues, buildings of the Consistory etc.); the Jewish sections of the cemeteries (incl. construction works to these sections, the enlargement of plots for Jewish burials, i.a. in the cemetery of Saint-Gilles); documents concerning the appointment, election etc. of treasurers and other members of the fabrique d’église of the respective communities; bequests and gifts of individual to the Jewish communities; series of budgets and accounts (i.a. of the Orthodox community, of the Communauté israélite de Bruxelles, of the “Jewish reformed synagogue”); various matters related to the Central Jewish Consistory of Belgium; See the following files, preceded by the prefix “Cultes”: [Cultes] 51, 53, 149, 150, 152, 153, 157, 175, 591, 593/2, 594, 616, 620, 682, 731, 846, 879, 880, 881, 1241, 1242, 1243, 1244, 1245, 1246, 1247, 1248, 1249, 1250, 1251, 1252, 1253, 1254, 1255, 1256, 1257, 1276, 1345, 1346, 1347, 1348, 1527, 1538, 1574, 1702, 1703, 1708, 1845, 1871 and 1885. More detailed descriptions can be found in the various finding aids.

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:: Brussels

Subject terms:: Aid and relief; Aid and relief--Philanthropy and charity; Architecture; Cemeteries; Education; Education--Schools and universities; Education--Teachers and professors; Financial matters; Jewish community; Orthodox Judaism; Rabbis; Real estate; Synagogues

Finding aids:: The fonds is described in the Pallas database of the ASB-AVB. See also Inventaire no. 103, Archives des cultes religieux et des inhumations and the card index Fichier no. 109. Dossiers des cultes religieux et des inhumations.

Yerusha Network member:: State Archives of Belgium

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