1. Volunteers in the
FelixArchief / City Archives Antwerp
27.04.2012 Visit of Armagh-Leuven Links

2. Brief
introduction
to the
FelixArchief

3. Brief introduction to the FelixArchief
2006
• Move of the City Archives to the St. Felix Warehouse
• Reading room is expanded from 20 to 120 seats
• Storage capacity expanded from 14 to 36 km shelf space
Main sections
• The ancient archives of the City of Antwerp (1221-1794/95)
• The modern archives of the City of Antwerp (1794/95-present)
• Archives of individuals, families, businesses and associations
• Special collections

4. Long tradition of volunteers

5. Long tradition of volunteers
Lots of expertise
Growing productivity
Priorities:
• Archives of individuals, families, businesses and associations
e.g. Gazet van Antwerpen (photographic collection of newspaper)
• Special collections
e.g. Iconography (maps & plans, drawings, prints)
• Non-regular tasks
e.g. dry cleaning of glass negatives

6. Some figures for 2011

7. Some figures for 2011
Modern Archives of the City
• (re)numbering and (re)packing
– 1,317 photographs from the Police archives
– 481 of the earliest building plans
– 5,700 plans
– 3,800 dossiers of innkeepers
– 1,045 dossiers of companies
– 2,704 dossiers of public works
• selection of doubles
– 21,610 double building permits selected to be destroyed
• describing collections
– 1,500 war posters (1914-1918)
– 1,400 placards (1790-1830)

8. Some figures for 2011
Archives of individuals, families, businesses and
associations
• (re)numbering and (re)packing
– 680 drawings by Van Kuyck
– 1,800 dossiers office of notary Cols
– 4,000 photographs Gazet van Antwerpen
• described
– 1,133 photographs Gazet van Antwerpen
Special collections
• digitized (scanned)
– 4,600 photographs
– 4,420 negatives
• described
– 2,500 obituaries

9. Who are our volunteers?
5 individuals
2 retired firefighters
6 members of the
Antwerp Heritage Volunteer Group
http://www.adfas.org/

10. Thank you for your attention!