Contact	Ruisbroekstraat, 2 1000 BRUSSEL > How to get there? Tel: +32 (0)2 513 76 80 Fax: +32 (0)2 513 76 81 This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it In order to reserve documents for Saturday: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Opening times	Tuesday-Friday: from 8.30 am – 6.00 pm. Saturday: from 9.00 am – 12.30 and 1.00 pm – 4.00 pm (Consultation of original documents on Saturdays is only possible upon reservation made until Friday 1.00 pm at the latest). In July and August: From Tuesday-Friday from 8.30 am – 12.00 and 1.00 pm – 4.30 pm. Closed on Saturdays. Closed on Mondays and Holidays. Closed for archive fonds control from June 6th to June 10th 2011. > Please find the complete list of closure days in 2011 here. Orders for original documents are treated at regular hours: 8.45 am, 9.30 am, 10.30 am, 11.30 am, 1.15 pm, 2.15 pm and 3.30 pm. Orders for publications from the library are treated continuously from 8.30 am to noon and from 1.00 pm to 4.00 pm.

Reading rooms

The National Archives possesses a reading room. There you can consult the following:

• Archive documents (original documents and copies) of the central institutions of the Former Netherlands and of Belgium, family archives, maps and plans.
  Click here for an overview of available research instruments: FR - NL.
  
  
• Digital documents accessible via the digital reading room.
  
  
• The publications of the Centre for archival documentation and the library mainly deal with the history of Belgium, and in particular of the Brabant region. There is also a number of series of printed sources: old pamphlets, edicts and ordinances, specialist literature about archival sciences, and archive inventories about the documents preserved in other repositories in Belgium and abroad.

What do we preserve?

The National Archives of Belgium preserve the archives of the central institutions of the Burgundian, Austrian and Spanish Netherlands until 1795, the archives of the central public institutions of the French period (1795-1815) and of the Kingdom the Netherlands (1815-1830), and finally the archives of the central institutions of the national government – and later of the federal government – from the birth of Belgium (1830) until today, not including the archives of the defence and foreign affairs ministries. 

Beside the archives from the central public institutions, the National Archives also preserve a large number of private archives such as personal archives that politicians have handed over to the State Archives. Numerous family archives – some of which are of considerable size – entrusted to the State Archives by Belgium’s most important families also add considerably to the richness of the Archives. 
Finally, one has to mention the numerous collections of the Archives – a very useful resource for researchers: maps and plans, engravings and manuscripts of various origins.

Within the National Archives and Department I, two sections can be distinguished: Section 4 is in charge of the service to the public (reading room) and the administration of the archives from the Ancien Régime. Section 5 is responsible for acquisition and preservation of the contemporary archives (public archives, private archives and archives of companies and associations) preserved at the National Archives and making them accessible (for research purposes).

As for the companies archives kept in the auxiliary depository at Rue du Houblon, we kindly invite you to take a look at the inventory list and the consultation modalities.

The archives of the former Duchy of Brabant, the Department of the Dyle and the Province of Brabant (until 1995), of the Brussels region and the Province of Flemish-Brabant, which were previously preserved at Rue de Ruysbroeck, are now being transferred to the State Archives in the Brussels-Capital Region (Anderlecht) and to the State Archives in Leuven.

How to get there?

By public transport: The National Archives are located in the centre of Brussels, in the midst of the triangle Mont des Arts – Grand Sablon – Central Station. Access is easy via public transport: Tram and Metro stop at the Central station (Bruxelles Central), bus stop at Grand Sablon, Tram stop at Rue de la Régence (Sablon church).
By foot, you can reach the National Archives from the Central station in more or less five minutes. Take the Boulevard de l’Empereur and walk down the stairs immediately after number 4 (service entry of the Royal Library) to the Place de la Justice. There, an underpass leads directly to the Rue de Ruysbroeck where the National Archives are located to the left.

By car: The Archives do not have their own parking space. It is rather difficult to find a parking space in the vicinity, except in car parks with parking fees (e.g. Parking Albertine, entry at Place de la Justice).

Click the map for a larger picture

Who is who?

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Further reading

• VAN HAEGENDOREN M., Les Archives générales du Royaume à Bruxelles, aperçu des fonds et des inventaires, Brussels, 1955, 440 p.
• SOENEN M., Institutions centrales des Pays-Bas sous l'Ancien Régime, Brussels, 1994, 589 p.
• VANRIE A., Archives scabinales et communales du Brabant, Brussels, 1995, 607 p.
• MURET Ph., Archives ecclésiastiques du Brabant. I. Doyennés, paroisses, collégiales, 2 tomes, Brussels, 1995.
• NIJSSEN R., Aperçu des instruments de recherche disponibles à la salle de lecture des Archives générales du Royaume. Situation au 1er janvier 1998, Brussels, 1998.
• D’HOORE M., Archives de particuliers relatives à l’histoire de la Belgique contemporaine (de 1830 à nos jours) 2 volumes, 1998.
• AERTS E., Geschiedenis en archief van de rekenkamers, 1996.
• VAN NIEUWENHUYSEN A., complété par LAURENT R., Archives de familles et de particuliers, 1997.