Archives départementales de l'Aisne

In 1947, the Departmental Archives were placed under the control of Joseph Etienne, Chief Archivist of the Somme. A barrack was built, not far from the teachers' training college. The documents were summarily stored there. In 1950, Jean Quéguiner became chief archivist of the Aisne. He was the first archivist to reside in Laon since 1941, which had an impact on the conservation of the collections. His constant concern was the dilapidated state of the temporary premises where the archives were stored. In his first report, he wrote: "I would like to draw your attention to the urgent need to undertake the construction of a new repository, as the cramped and damp conditions of the current barracks are detrimental to the proper conservation of the department's archives. Shortly afterwards, he emphasised the resumption of normal activities of receiving deposits and filing, a resumption that was nevertheless difficult because of the dispersal of the buildings, but also because of their "insalubrity, which compromises the good conservation of the archives, which are gradually rotting". In 1950, the Aisne departmental archives only held 1,500 linear metres of documents.

The department was then transferred in 1954 to a new building, very modern for its time. It was equipped with 8,000 linear metres of shelving. This transfer and Jean Quéguiner's activity enabled the department to quickly resume its activities: numerous deposits and, consequently, processing work. In 1956, the Departmental Archives already held 6,100 linear metres of documents. It was during this period that documents from the prefecture and sub-prefectures of the Aisne began to arrive at the Departmental Archives. Very quickly, the new building was saturated.

However, it was not until 1977 that the Archives moved to a new building in the lower town. It has a surface area of 6,000 m² and a total storage capacity of 21 linear kilometres.

At the end of the 2000s, the storage areas were rearranged and the regulatory eliminations did not leave enough space to accommodate future deposits. Therefore, an annex was put into service with a storage capacity of 3 linear kilometres. At the beginning of 2017, these two entities were on the verge of saturation.

Alerted very early on, the Aisne Departmental Council decided to build a new storage facility in the Foch Park area. At the end of 2015, the work was entrusted to the Rabot-Dutilleul group. Construction began at the end of the first quarter of 2017 for delivery in June 2018.

The new building offers a storage capacity of 40 linear kilometres, a modern reading room with 37 seats, an exhibition room of 150 m² and 5 training rooms including a conference room that can accommodate 80 to 120 people. In the long term, the building can be extended by 60 linear kilometres.

The Aisne Departmental Archives make nearly 25 linear kilometres of documents available to the public; these illustrate the life of the Aisne department from the 9th century to the present day. This rich and varied archival heritage is the result of a long history.

Inventories and thematic guides