Archives of the Antwerp branch of the firm Raphaël Braunschweig in Basel and the company Braunschweig & Co NV in Antwerp

Collection

Web address:: http://www.arch.be/index.php?l=nl&m=praktische-info&r=onze-leeszalen&d=beveren

Title:: Archives of the Antwerp branch of the firm Raphaël Braunschweig in Basel and the company Braunschweig & Co NV in Antwerp

Title (official language):: Archief van de Antwerpse vestiging van de firma Raphaël Braunschweig te Bazel en het bedrijf Braunschweig & Co NV te Antwerpen

Scope and content:: In this fonds we note the typical documents and series generally found in business archives, such as correspondence with customers and suppliers, bookkeeping records, legal documents, material concerning management of the warehouse, etc. We also note the file related to the placement under Verwalter of the company during the Second World War (no. 595).

Administrative/biographical history:: The firm Raphaël Braunschweig, transformed into Braunschweig et Cie in 1893, was primarily active in the coffee trade at the end of the 19th century. Until the First World War, the brothers Max and Maurice Braunschweig were the owners of the Antwerp branch. Braunschweig & Co was founded in Antwerp on 29 December 1924. The subsidiary Compagnie Africaine d’Entreprises Commerciales (CADEC) was created in 1933, with the Braunschweig family owning about three quarters of the shares. At the outbreak of the Second World War, Edgard and Robert Braunschweig fled to Lausanne with their families. From 1941, their businesses were placed under the management of Verwalter – respectively Heinrich Kunst for Braunschweig & Co, and A. Mülhaupt (who would replace Kunst) for CADEC. In 1943, Verwalter Schuermann became the manager of both companies. After the war, Robert Braunschweig took over the management of the two companies. In 1964 Elie Braunschweig became the associate manager of the business. The company has been a limited liability company (naamloze vennootschap) since 1965. (J. Vermote, Inventaris van het archief van de Antwerpse vestiging van de firma Raphaël Braunschweig te Bazel en het archief van het bedrijf Braunschweig & Co NV te Antwerpen, I 168 (Rijksarchief te Beveren), Brussel, ARA-AGR, 2008.)

Subject terms:: Financial records; Holocaust; Plunder; Plunder--Aryanisation; Trade and commerce

Finding aids:: J. Vermote, Inventaris van het archief van de Antwerpse vestiging van de firma Raphaël Braunschweig te Bazel en het archief van het bedrijf Braunschweig & Co NV te Antwerpen, I 168 (Rijksarchief te Beveren), Brussel, ARA-AGR, 2008.