Translations:Overzicht professionele bewaarplaatsen/3/en

Public law archives

Public law archives in Belgium acquire and manage government archives. They are not obliged to accept private archives, but they are tasked with documenting the historical-social development of a specific geographical domain (at federal, provincial or municipal level). In addition to the mandatory inclusion of government archives, the various storage and preservation institutions’ collections are supplemented with private archives that form an important historical source.

Federal level: Algemeen Rijksarchief

The ARA’s 18 repositories ensure the proper preservation of archival documents created and managed by the government. The ARA therefore acquires and preserves archives that are at least 30 years old, from the Burgundian era to the present day, from the central institutions of the national – now federal – government. Companies, politicians and private individuals who have influenced social life can also entrust their archives to the ARA, and the institution manages all these archives and makes them easily accessible to the public.