National Archives of Belgium State Archives Archives de l'État / Rijksarchief

History and Founding

The legal foundations of the Belgian State Archives were established by the French law of 26 October 1796 (5 Brumaire, Year V), which required records of abolished institutions to be preserved at the regional metropolis of each newly created département. In 1831, the central Brussels repository was officially named the Archives Générales du Royaume (National Archives of Belgium), and Louis-Prosper Gachard was appointed as the first National Archivist. The State Archives in the Provinces were brought under national authority by Royal Decree of 17 December 1851. The current institution is a federal academic organization under the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (BELSPO), composed of the National Archives in Brussels and 18 repositories throughout Belgium. Xavier Jacques-Jourion serves as Director-General.

Collections and Holdings

The State Archives preserve approximately 325 kilometres of archives and 25 kilometres of books. The National Archives in Brussels alone holds over 70 kilometres of archival records. Holdings span the central institutions of the Burgundian Netherlands, the Spanish Netherlands, and the Austrian Netherlands until 1795, the French period (1795–1815), the United Kingdom of the Netherlands (1815–1830), and Belgian federal government records from 1830 to the present. Collections include maps, plans, drawings, manuscripts, seal casts, private family and political archives, notarial records, ecclesiastical archives, and approximately 500,000 library volumes across the network. Over 38,000 seal molds are now accessible both on-site and online.

Notable Holdings

The National Archives holds documentation relevant to both World Wars, including restitution and compensation files, records of Nazi-era persecutions, and a charter of Philip of Alsace (1176) recovered from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 2023. The AGATHA digital search environment (launched December 2024) provides increasing online access to finding aids.

Access and Usage

Each repository has a public reading room. Archives at least 30 years old are generally accessible to researchers. Online finding aids are available through the AGATHA search environment. Archival supervision services, training for public officers, and reproduction services are provided.