Rijksarchief te Kortrijk / Acrhives de l'Etat à Courtrai

The French law of 26 October 1796 (5 Brumaire V) laid the foundations of the organisational structure of the present-day Belgian State Archives. The law stipulated that the archives of institutions and administrations abolished by the French authorities were to be collected and preserved at the regional metropolis of each newly created ‘Département’. In 1831, the archive depot in Brussels was officially named the “Archives Générales du Royaume” (National Archives of Belgium). By virtue of the Royal Decree of 17 December 1851, the “Archives de l’État dans les Provinces” (State Archives in the Provinces) were placed under the authority of the National Archivist.

Now broadly known as ‘the State Archives of Belgium’, the National Archives and the State Archives in the Provinces are a federal academic organisation that forms part of the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (BELSPO). The State Archives are made up of the National Archives in Brussels and 17 State Archives that are distributed throughout the country. The State Archives’ role is to ensure the proper preservation of archival documents produced and managed by the state authorities. In order to fulfil its responsibilities, the State Archives issue directives and recommendations; conduct inspections and organise training for civil servants. The State Archives also act as an advisory body for the construction and preparation of premises for the conservation of archives and for the organisation of archive management within public institutions. The State Archives obtain and preserve (following sorting) archival documents that are at least 30 years old from courts, tribunals, public authorities, notaries and from the private sector and private individuals (companies, politicians, associations and societies, influential families, etc. that have played an important role in society). They ensure that public archives are transferred according to strict archival standards.

Since 1964, the State Archives in Kortrijk have been housed in a building owned by the city of Kortrijk in the Guido Gezellestraat, 100 metres from the Grote Markt.

The building was designed by architect Wenceslas Cobergher (1561-1625) and was originally used as a pawnshop. In the 1930s it housed the city library. After being destroyed by a bombing raid in 1944, the building was restored and rebuilt in the years 1950-1960.

In 2012-2013, renovation works were carried out in the part of the Courtrai Mont-de-Piété that is used by the State Archives: the reading room moved to the ground floor, the archive storage capacity was considerably expanded (from 5 to 8 running kilometres) and the infrastructure for staff, volunteers and visitors to the reading room was greatly improved.

The State Archives in Kortrijk preserve the public and private archives that have been produced on the territory of the former judicial district of Courtrai. The oldest document dates from the 11th century.

For a more detailed overview of the the State Archives in Courtrai's holdings, see:

http://www.arch.be/index.php?l=nl&m=praktische-info&r=onze-leeszalen&d=kortrijk#archives-conservees (in Dutch)

http://www.arch.be/index.php?l=fr&m=en-pratique&r=nos-salles-de-lecture&d=courtrai#archives-conservees (in French)

There are several online search engines: keyword, archives, creator, persons, themes (http://search.arch.be/). In order to facilitate access to documents, archivists produce academic reference works aimed at users, such as archive group overviews, guides, historical source studies and, in particular, inventories and search guides with detailed indexes. The search guides can be consulted in the reading room, and they are currently subject to a digitisation initiative, which aims to make them fully accessible on-line or via the intranet available on the computers in all the depositories of the State Archives.

State Archives guides and inventories may also be downloaded or purchased from the following link:

http://webshop.arch.be/

Specific guides to the collections held by the State Archives in Coutrai include:

• Van Isterdael H., Beknopt overzicht van de archieven en verzamelingen van het Rijksarchief te Kortrijk, série Guides 55, publication n°3740, Archives générales du Royaume, Bruxelles, 2002.

• Huyse E., Catalogus van de verzameling kaarten, plattegronden en andere afbeeldingen van het Rijksarchief te Kortrijk, série Inventaires Rijksarchief te Kortrijk 10, publication n°4096, Archives générales du Royaume, Bruxelles, 2003.

• Callewier H, Inventaris van het archief van de Groeningeabdij te Kortrijk (1199) 1237-1797, série Inventaires Rijksarchief te Kortrijk 23, publication n°5028, Archives générales du Royaume, Bruxelles, 2011.