Archive service: The National Archives in Brussels
Archive block: Ministry of Justice. Public Security Office. Foreigners Police. Alphabetical file cards of the individual files opened between 1835 and 1912 (files nos. 1-999.999); archive blocks 1538, 1534 and 1535 (T 413).
Type of document: Alphabetical file cards
Geographical description: World
Period: 1830-1914
Explanation: The State Archives in Brussels hold more than 154,000 original nominal file cards that provide an entry to the collection of individual foreigners' files between 1830 to 1890. The files were transferred to the State Archives in 1948 and cover about 286 meters. They are arranged chronologically according to the opening date. The alphabetically ordered nominal file cards, that contain basic individual details on each foreigner such as name, geographical origin, occupation and file number, constitute the main source to retrieve a person's file.
The archives of the Foreigners Police form a unique and essential source for both genealogical and historical research. In October 2015, the IMMIBEL project started under the guidance of Dr Bart Willems and Filip Strubbe. The acronym IMMIBEL stands for immigration to Belgium. The project was funded by the Federal Science Policy within the framework of the research program BRAIN-be. The aim of the project was to provide a digitally accessible index to the file cards, so that the Foreigners' files are easier to find and consult. For two years project employee Sarah Heynssens was responsible for coordinating the entry of the data from the file cards into a database. Please find a user guide below to guide you through this database.
In addition to compiling the database, the IMMIBEL project is also working on a better understanding of nineteenth-century migration to Belgium through a number of PhD and post-doctoral research projects.
USER GUIDE
Aantal aktes: | 151.857 |
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Aantal personen: | 201.507 |
Laatst bijgewerkt: | Wed 22 Dec 2021 10:18:31 CET |
Entry by: Sarah Heynssens
Status: Finished