The National Archives of Belgium[1] (French: Archives générales du Royaume, Dutch: Algemeen Rijksarchief, German: Generalstaatsarchiv; all lit. 'General Archives of the Kingdom') is the main depository of the State Archives of Belgium (Archives de l'État; Rijksarchief) and is located on rue de Ruysbroeck/Ruysbroeckstraat, next to the Mont des Arts, in central Brussels. This archive repository holds over 70 kilometres (43 mi) of archives.
The National Archives preserves the archives of the central institutions of the Burgundian Netherlands, the Spanish Netherlands and the Austrian Netherlands until 1795, of the central public authorities of the French period (1795–1815) and of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands (1815–1830). It also holds the archives of the central institutions of the national, and later federal government, from the foundation of Belgium (1830) until today, except for the archives of the Ministries of Defense and of Foreign Affairs.
Among the preserved archives are:
Beside the public archives, the National Archives also preserves numerous private archives such as the archives of politicians who entrusted their records to the institution. The richness of those archives is also due to the sometimes voluminous archives of the most influential Belgian families handed over to the National Archives:
Also worth mentioning:
The National Archives is equipped with a reading room for the public. Researchers, historians, students, people interested in local and family history, etc. can consult the available documents while respecting the privacy of certain information. A number of exhibitions aimed at valorising the collections are organised in the entry hall and accessible to the public for free. Colloquia and study days are held on a regular basis for a learned public. The National Archives also houses the national coordination services of the institution.
Some 24,000 church registers from all over Belgium and an increasing number of civil status registers not older than 100 years can be viewed as digital images in the 19 reading rooms of the State Archives, including the reading room of the National Archives. Furthermore, researchers and victims of Nazi persecution or their relatives can consult, upon request and under certain conditions, the digital copy of the archives of the International Tracing Service (ITS) at the National Archives. This digital copy (over 80 million digital images, stored on roughly six terabytes) pertains to the civil victims of the Nazi regime and contains documents about labour, concentration and extermination camps, registration files about displaced persons, lists about forced labour and a central name index, the originals of which are preserved in Bad Arolsen, Germany. Since January 2013, the parish registers and civil status registers are also accessible for free via the website of the State Archives. Other types of digital documents available in the digital reading room or on the website of the State Archives are, for instance: the proceedings of the Councils of Ministers (1918–1979), the statistical yearbook of Belgium (and the Belgian Congo) since 1870, over 20,000 seal molds, etc.
The reading rooms in the different repositories are accessible to every holder of a valid reader’s card.
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