Who are we? | Brussels Archives

The Archives of the City of Brussels refers to both a service and a building that preserves the City's memories. The wealth and variety of its collections make it one of the most important historic centres in the country.
The main role of the Archives of the City of Brussels is to safeguard the documents produced by the municipal administration since the Middle Ages. The service also collects and stores a large number of documents (brochures, advertising flyers, etc.), however unimportant or modest they may be, so that future generations can have a full and faithful image of as many aspects of Brussels life as possible.

Our missions

The Archives Service of the City of Brussels is responsible for collecting, storing, itemising, releasing and promoting the documents of the Administration of the City of Brussels from mediaeval times to the present day. The majority of these archives relate to the history and inhabitants of the City of Brussels (Pentagon and its extensions, Laeken, Neder-Over-Heembeek and Haren). The collections of administrative archives include those of the Civil Registry, the Population Registry and Public Works (building permits).

History of the Service

As far back as the Middle Ages, even before there was a City Hall, there was a need for the urban Magistrate to store documents that generated rights.

These archives were first kept in Saint Michel church and Saint Nicholas church tower, before being brought together in City Hall in the 16th century. They were moved again during the next century, this time to two separate but neighbouring buildings on the Grand Place: the Spiegel and the Boterpot. These buildings were reduced to ruins during the bombardment of Brussels by the troops of Louis XIV in 1695, which destroyed a large proportion of the City's administrative records.

Despite this disaster, the City added to its collections through an acquisition policy that began in the 19th century and was implemented by the professional historians entrusted by the City with the management and administration of its archives.

Presentation of the team

The Archives service has 25 employees. They have many and varied profiles, which include skilled workers, secretaries and administrative officers, librarians and archivists, and they work together side-by-side to perform the Service's varied duties. They can be found at the welcome desk or in the reading room, behind the answers to your emails or amongst the shelves of the five floors that make up the depository (not accessible to the public).

Presentation of the building

The complex of buildings occupied by the Archives Service of the City of Brussels is the result of successive extensions carried out over several decades by Jules Waucquez et Compagnie. This company, founded in 1901, has created one of the largest wholesale businesses working on the fabric of our country.

The City of Brussels acquired this interesting example of commercial architecture - now a listed building - in 1976 for the storage of its archives.

Installing the Archives Service in the Marolles was a way of revitalising a district hit hard by the damage to the surrounding area as a result of the disruption to the urban fabric following the construction of the Nord-Midi railway junction.