The Basics: A Guide
Chapter 6
Resource Centres for Genealogical Research
Last time I promised that I would provide you a list of the addresses of the archives in the Netherlands. This is as good a time as any. Along with the national archives (Algemeen Rijksarchief) and the provincial archives (Rijksarchief), there are district archives/museums (Streekarchief), church archives as well as the municipal archives. But first the national/provincial list:
- Algemeen Rijksarchief, Prins Willem-Alexanderhof 20, 2509 LM, 's Gravenhage
- Rijksarchief Drenthe, Brink 4, 9400 AN, Assen
- Rijksarchief Friesland, Boterhoek 3, Postbus 97, 8900 AB, Leeuwarden
- Rijksarchief Gelderland, Markt 1, 6811 CG, Arnhem
- Rijksarchief Groningen, St. Jansstraat 2, 9712 JN, Groningen
- Rijksarchief Limburg, St. Pietersstraat 7, 6200 AV, Maastricht
- Rijksarchief Noord-Brabant, Waterstraat 20, 5211 JD, 's Hertogenbosch
- Rijksarchief Noord-Holland, Kleine Houtweg 18, 2012 CH, Haarlem
- Rijksarchief Overijssel, Eikarstraat 20, Postbus 1227, 8001 BE, Zwolle
- Rijksarchief Utrecht, Alexander Numankade 201, 3752 KW, Utrecht
- Rijksarchief Zeeland, St. Pietersstraat 38, 4311 EW, Middelburg
- Rijksarchief Zuid-Holland, Bleyenburg 7, Postbus 90520, 2509 LM, 's Gravenhage
There is one other very important organization in the Netherlands, the Centraal Bureau voor Genealogie (CBvG), which forms part of a genealogical/archive complex in the Hague (Postbus 11755, 2502 AT The Hague). This government subsidized organization was established in 1945 to help and advise in genealogical research and to do limited research. For a fee they will do limited research for you. As with most other archives they have limited help and can therefore do little research.
However the CBvG is responsible for three excellent booklets that may be very useful for North American researchers - Searching for your Ancestors in the Netherlands, Zo Schreven onze Voorouders (samples of writing in the old records), and Overzicht van Verzamelingen (survey of collections held by the CBvG and the Iconographisch Bureau). The CBvG also publishes a list of addresses of archives, genealogical societies and genealogist and record searchers in the Netherlands. The CBvG also has published two excellent reference works - Genealogisch Repertorium and Repertorium DTB. The first work is an index to published material of genealogical interest, the latter is a list of baptismal (doop), marriage (trouw) and death/burial (begraven) registers from before 1812, including the place of storage of these records. The list is indexed according to municipalities. Next time I will talk more about civil registration.