Metadata: Archives of the lawyer Norden
Collection
- Country:
- Belgium
- Holding institution:
- National Archives of Belgium 2 – Joseph Cuvelier Repository
- Holding institution (official language):
- Archives Générales du Royaume 2 – Dépôt Joseph Cuvelier
- Postal address:
- Hopstraat 26-28 / Rue du Houblon 26-28, 1000 Bruxelles
- Phone number:
- +32 (0)2 274 15 00
- Web address:
- http://www.arch.be/
- Email:
- agr_ar_2@arch.be
- Reference number:
- NAB2-Brussels-545-56
- Title:
- Archives of the lawyer Norden
- Title (official language):
- Archives de l’avocat Norden
- Creator/accumulator:
- Norden, Fritz-Albert
- Date(s):
- 1906/1928
- Date note:
- ca. 1908-1926
- Language:
- German
- French
- Extent:
- 12 linear metres
- Scope and content:
- This fonds, for which no finding aid exists at the time of writing, consists almost exclusively of files related to cases treated by lawyer Norden – mainly commercial disputes and bankruptcies, but for example also criminal cases treated by the courts of the German occupation administration during the First World War. In addition this fonds also contains files (dated ca. 1920-1926) concerning the post-war management and resolution of various other sequesters. Both types of files generally contain correspondence (with clients, the accused, firms, other lawyers), notes, excerpts from judiciary files, etc. The importance of the fonds lies in the fact that many cases relate to the German immigration to Brussels (before the war) and (albeit indirectly) on daily life in occupied Belgium during the First World War.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- Fritz-Albert Norden (1881-1932) was a German jurist. In the late 19th century, his parents Philippe Cohen and Harriet Cohen had settled in Brussels, where Philippe established the firm Philippe Norden & Cie (later Norden frères) together with his sons Arthur and Kurt. Fritz Norden obtained a PhD in law (1903) in Belgium and started working as a lawyer. From 1906 onwards he was attached to the Hof van Beroep in Brussels. During the First World War, Norden held the function of legal expert of the Zivilverwaltung in Belgium. He fled to Germany in the autumn of 1918. His assets were sequestered and Norden was excluded from the Bar in Brussels (1919). In Germany he made a career within the Auswärtiges Amt, i.a. as a translator, a jurist specialising in German-French treaties and agreements, and at international conferences. From 1925 he was a member of the German delegation at the sessions and conferences of the League of Nations in Geneva. In addition, Norden lectured (from 1922) in French private and public law at the Institut für Auslandsrecht of the university in Berlin. He was the author of various articles and books on legal issues and on legal history and was also interested in classical Latin literature. His book Das neutrale Belgien und Deutschland im Urteil belgischer Staatsmänner und Juristen (1915), in which he tried to justify legally the German violation of Belgian neutrality, caused a major scandal – i.a. Émile Waxweiler published a harsh critique of this work. (Individual alien file of Fritz-Albert Norden (BE / ARA-AGR / 510-1539, no. 786.712); M. Keipert & P. Grupp, Biographisches Handbuch des deutschen Auswärtigen Dienstes: L-R, Berlin, Auswärtiges Amt. Historischer Dienst / F. Schöningh, 2008, pp. 379-380.)
- Access points: persons/families:
- Norden, Fritz-Albert
- Finding aids:
- A summary description can be found in K. Carrein, F. Romano & C. Vancoppenolle, Fonds van sekwesterarchieven - Fonds des archives des séquestres XX : Inventaire collectif d’archives d’entreprises séquestrées après la première guerre mondiale – Verzamelinventaris van bedrijfsarchieven gesequestreerd na de Eerste Wereldoorlog, Bruxelles, ARA-AGR, 2006, pp. 181-182.
- Yerusha Network member:
- State Archives of Belgium