[Section Archives historiques] Collection of historical archives

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 Archives historiques] Collection des archives historiques

Title:: [Section Archives historiques] Collection of historical archives

Title (official language):: [Section Archives historiques] Collection des archives historiques

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

Date(s):: 1200/1999

Date note:: 13th – 20th centuries

Extent:: 376 linear metres

Scope and content:: This fonds contains a number of relevant files. In bundle no. 710 we find documents concerning burghers of Brussels who were Protestant or Jewish, including a list of Jews living in Brussels (year XI – 1828) [year XI of the French Revolutionary Calendar is 1802-1803]. Bundle no. 698 contains, among others, a printed notice addressed to A. Oppenheim by the Commission provisoire de la Synagogue israélite (8 November 1830). Bundle no. 792 contains the act of 29 March 1702 concerning the chapel of the Heilige Sacrament, previously a synagogue. Lastly, register no. 3026 contains “declaration form of Jews” (1808-1809), arranged by family name. The fonds also contains a number of other documents that might be of interest – see for example bundle no. 708 (excerpts of acts, announcements of deaths and marriages, …)(18th century), register no. 3027 (concerning the adoption of family names according to the Royal Decree of November 8th, 1825, dated 1826-1827), and various files related to applications for passports by foreigners (19th century).

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

Access points: persons/families:: Oppenheim, A

Subject terms:: Citizenship; Jewish community; Migration; Migration--Immigration; Passports and visas; Synagogues; Vital records

Finding aids:: C. Pergameni, Les archives historiques de la ville de Bruxelles. Notices et inventaires, Brussel, Éditorial Office H. Wauthoz-Legrand, [1943], reading room no. 15. The descriptions can (for the most part) also be consulted in the Pallas database of the ASB-AVB.

Yerusha Network member:: State Archives of Belgium

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