Metadata: Religions
Collection
- Country:
- Belgium
- Holding institution:
- State Archives in Antwerp
- Holding institution (official language):
- Rijksarchief te Antwerpen
- Postal address:
- Sanderusstraat 81, 2018 Antwerpen
- Phone number:
- +32 (0)3 236 73 00
- Reference number:
- SAA-Beveren-PAA 638
- Title:
- Religions
- Title (official language):
- Erediensten
- Creator/accumulator:
- Provincie Antwerpen; Province d’Anvers; province of Antwerp
- Date(s):
- 1798/1930
- Date note:
- ca. 1800-1930
- Extent:
- ca. 6 linear metres
- Scope and content:
-
This fonds contains two bundles that are very rich in information about the Jewish communities present in Antwerp in the late 19th – early 20th centuries.
The bundle titled “III. Andere Erediensten. Israeliestisch [sic] eredienst” (dated ca. 1890-1930) consists of the subfiles “synagogue Antwerp”, “Russian-Polish rite”, “Portuguese rite” and “synagogue Borgerhout”. We mainly find correspondence concerning the composition of the ‘Board of Administration’ and the board of these communities, the expansion of the number of board members, the appointment of rabbis and deputy rabbis, the salaries of the personnel, the appointment and remuneration of the treasurers, guarantees (borgtochten), the management of goods, gifts and bequests (often including copies or excerpts from wills), the sale of the old synagogue in the Pieter Potstraat (incl. an excerpt from the cadastre), the construction of the synagogue in the Oostenstraat (also incl. an excerpt from the cadastre), the recognition of the community Machsike Hadass and the community and synagogue in Borgerhout, the creation of ritual baths (in the case of the community Machsike Hadass), budgets, accounts and loans of the various communities etc.
The bundle titled “III. Algemeen. Erediensten. Anglikaanse. Israelietische. Protestantse.” mainly contains documents related to the financial management of the communities, notably documents related to the salaries of the Jewish clergy and other personnel (dated 1887-1898, 1900-1924), general material related to the fund for widows and orphans of the Justice department, documents concerning the so-called ‘duurtetoeslag’ (a type of allowance) for the livelihood of the ministers etc.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- The present division of Belgium into provinces dates back to the French period, when the Southern Netherlands were split up into nine départements (decree of 14 Fructidor, year III). Since the division of the province of Brabant in 1995 Belgium has ten provinces. For almost 150 years, the Provinciewet of 1836 remained the legal framework. The constitutional reforms of 1970 and 1980 also affected the provinces, who escaped elimination but were thoroughly reformed (law of 6 July 1987). Since 1 January 2002 the organic law regarding the provinces is a competence of the Regions; both the Flemish and Walloon Regions have since issued their own provincial decrees. A province is headed by a governor. He/she is assisted by a provincial executive (bestendige deputatie; today called ‘deputatie’ in Flanders, ‘collège provincial’ in Wallonia) selected from the provincial council. The tasks and competences of the provinces were only vaguely described in the Provinciewet. In practice, the provincial executive and the governor primarily supervise(d) lower administrations including municipalities, the Public Centres for Social Welfare and church councils (kerkfabrieken). The province also has the authority to create certain institutions such as schools. The governor is responsible for keeping the peace, public order and security; for this purpose he is authorised to call upon the Gendarmerie (Federal Police, since 1998). As a consequence of these tasks and competences, provincial archives contain documents on a wide range of subjects such as public works, public health, finances of the municipalities and local institutions, elections, provincial education, public order etc. Among the general sources we notably mention minutes of meetings but also the (published) Bestuursmemoriaal in which the decisions, circulars, regulations etc. of the provincial bodies are included. Relevant for this guide are the documents resulting from the organisation and supervision of recognised religions (incl. budgets, accounts, appointment and housing of rabbis, works to synagogues). Provincial archives also contain documents regarding policy during the Second World War, including material on the anti-Jewish ordinances, registration of Jews, deportation, spoliation etc. (P. van den Eeckhout, “De provincies”, 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. 105-138.)
- Access points: locations:
- Antwerp
- Access, restrictions:
- Consultation of documents older than 30 years containing personal information requires the authorisation of the Algemeen Rijksarchivaris or his representative. This authorisation is granted on the basis of a research declaration signed by the researcher.
- Finding aids:
- At the time of writing the fonds has not been numbered, and no finding aid exists. The material described above should be requested by means of their description (in particular the title of the files).
- Yerusha Network member:
- State Archives of Belgium
