National Archives of the Netherlands

Nationaal Archief

visiting address
Prins Willem-Alexanderhof 20
The Hague (Den Haag)
The Netherlands

postal address
P.O. Box 90520
2509 LM The Hague
The Netherlands

telephone
+31.(0)70.331 54 00 (general information)
+31.(0)70.331 54 44 (information concerning the holdings)

fax
+31.(0)70.331 54 99

project contact
Mr Lennart Bes
tel: +31.(0)70.3315492
e-mail: lennart.bes@nationaalarchief.nl
archival descriptions chiefly prepared by Dr Edda Frankot and Dr Hanno Brand (Hanse Research Center, Groningen University)

opening hours
Mon closed, Tue 9.00-21.00, Wed-Fri 9.00-17.00, Sat 9.00-13.00

access
The building is located next to the central railway station (use the exit at platform 12). Access is free to all. Visitors have to register at the desk in front of the reading room. As a rule, access to records less than twenty years old is restricted. Access is sometimes restricted for reasons of privacy or due to the bad condition of the materials. In special cases researchers can get permission from the director of Nationaal Archief to consult restricted archives. Part of the holdings is available on microfilm in open stacks in the reading room.

holdings, mission, structure
The Nationaal Archief is the (inter-)national center for the study of Dutch history and culture. It functions as the "National Memory", which is available to the citizens as well as the government. Nationaal Archief guarantees the safekeeping of its holdings for the present and future generations. It aims to secure the sources for knowledge on and insight in the objectives and proceedings of the Dutch Government, the bodies of state and provincial bodies in the province of South-Holland.
The Nationaal Archief is an agency of the Ministry of Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap (OCW, Education, Culture and Science). Nationaal Archief is divided into three departments: Bedrijfsvoering (facilitary management), Publiek (public service, education, presentation) and Collectie (acquisition, accessibility and physical management).
The holdings consist of 95,000 running meters of documents; 17,000 running meters of charters, 186,400 maps, charts and drawings and about one million photographs (in 2004). The library keeps 2 running meters of manuscripts; 80,000 volumes and 700 journals. Broadly speaking, Nationaal Archief keeps the records of the central government agencies and departments whose functions cover (or used to cover) the State as a whole. Furthermore, it keeps the archives concerning former Dutch colonies and overseas settlements as far as these originate from agencies within the Netherlands, as well as the records that were transferred to the Netherlands. In addition, Nationaal Archief acts as the State Archives of the province of South-Holland.
Among other records, Nationaal Archief thus keeps the archives of the States General (First and Second Chambers), the Secretariat to the King/Queen, the Council of Ministers, the Council of State, the Ministries, the Department of the Generality, the Secretariat to the Stadtholder, the demesnes of the House of Orange, the Admiralty Boards, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and the West India Company (WIC) and their legal predecessors and successors.
In its capacity of State Archives of the Province of South-Holland, Nationaal Archief keeps the provincial archives as well as the archives of the central government with a regional function from 1842 onward. Besides, it keeps the archives of the Province of Holland from 1813 till 1842 when it was not yet divided into a northern and a southern part. The institution also keeps the archives of Holland before 1813 when it was respectively County of Holland and Zeeland, one of the states of the Dutch Republic, one of the provinces of the Batavian Republic and one of the provinces of the Kingdom Holland. (Actually, when using the name of Holland, one refers only to the western part of the Netherlands.)
In addition, Nationaal Archief keeps the pictures collection of the Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst (RVD, State Information Service) as well a host of archives and collections of private persons and institutions of national interest.

relevant publications

Bos-Rops, J.A.M.Y., H.A. van Schie e.a., De archieven van het Nationaal Archief van Nederland (Alphen aan de Rijn, 1982).
Bos-Rops, J.A.M.Y., and M. Bruggeman, Archief wijzer. Handleiding voor het gebruik van archieven in Nederland (Muiderberg, 1987).
Bronnen in het buitenland. Literatuurwijzer voor bronnen van de Nederlandse geschiedenis in buitenlandse archieven en bibliotheken (The Hague, 1996).
Bronnen voor de geschiedenis van de Nederlandse Oostzeehandel in de zeventiende eeuw, ed. P.H. Winkelman:
* 1. Nederlandse rekeningen in de tolregisters van Koningsbergen 1588-1602, RGP, GS 133 (The Hague, 1971).
* 2. Amsterdamse bevrachtingscontracten van notaris Jan Franssen Bruyningh 1593-1600, RGP, GS 161 (The Hague, 1977).
* 3. Acten uit de notariële archieven van Amsterdam en het Noorderkwartier van Holland 1585-1600. Het koopmansarchief van Claes van Adrichem 1585-1597, RGP, GS 178 (The Hague, 1981).
* 4. Amsterdamse bevrachtingscontracten, wisselprotesten en bodemerijen van de notarissen Jan Franssen Bruyningh, Jacob Meerhout e.a. 1601-1608, RGP, GS 184 (The Hague, 1983).
* 5. Amsterdamse bevrachtingscontracten, wisselprotesten en bodemerijen van de notarissen Jan Franssen Bruyningh, Jacob Meerhout e.a. 1609-1616, RGP, GS 185 (The Hague, 1983).
* 6. Amsterdamse bevrachtigingscontracten, wisselprotesten en bodemerijen van de notarissen Jan Franssen Bruyningh, Jacob Meerhout e.a. 1617-1625, RGP, GS 186 (The Hague, 1983).
Buck, P. de, and J.Th. Lindblad, "Navigatie en negotie. De Galjootsgeldregisters als bron bij het onderzoek naar de geschiedenis van de Oostzeehandel in de achttiende eeuw", Tijdschrift voor Zeegeschiedenis, 9 (1990), pp. 27-48.
Colenbrander, H.T., Bescheiden uit vreemde archieven omtrent de groote Nederlandsche zeeoorlogen 1652-1676, 2 vols, RGP, KS (The Hague, 1919).
Eeghen, I.H. van, Inventarissen van de archieven van de directie van de Moscocische Handel. Directie van de oostersche handel en Reederijen, commissarissen tot de graanhandel en commissie voor de graanhandel (Amsterdam, 1961).
Kernkamp, G.W., Verslag van een onderzoek in Zweden, Noorwegen en Denemarken naar archivalia, belangrijk voor de geschiedenis van Nederland (The Hague, 1903).
Kernkamp, G.W., Baltische archivalia. Onderzoek naar archivalia, belangrijk voor de geschiedenis van Nederland, in Stockholm, Kopenhagen en de Duitsche Oostzeesteden, RGP, KS 4 (The Hague, 1909).
Lindblad, J.Th., Dutch entries in the pound-toll registers of Elbing 1585-1700, RGP, GS 225 (The Hague, 1995).
Ribberink, A.E.M., "The New National Archives of the Netherlands in The Hague", Archivum, 31 (1986), pp. 77-87.
Römelingh, J., Een rondgang langs Zweedse archieven. Een onderzoek naar archivalia inzake de betrekkingen tussen Nederland en Zweden 1520-1920, RGP, KS 59 (The Hague, 1986).
Rooijen, F. van, Archievenoverzicht Rijksarchief in Zuid-Holland (The Hague, 1995).
Tangelder, F.B.M., Nederlandse rekeningen in de pondtolregisters van Elbing, 1585-1602 (1972).
Uhlenbeck, C.C., Verslag aangaande een onderzoek in de archieven van Rusland ten bate der Nederlandsche geschiedenis (The Hague, 1891).

relevant internet links
Dutch summaries of the Danish Sound Toll Records from the eighteenth century:
www.nationaalarchief.nl/sont/

holdings concerning the Baltic Sea
Relevant archives and collections include the following:

Several governmental institutions and functionaries, including:
* Staten-Generaal (States General), 1550-1796, reference code 1.01.02 to 1.01.08, among other relevant papers containing Dutch Sound Toll registers over the period 1714-1766 drawn up by various commissioners (all belonging to the Van Deurs family) at Helsingør (items 7275-7293).
* Staten van Holland (States of Holland), 1445-1572, reference code 3.01.03, and 1572-1795, reference code 3.01.04.01 to 3.01.04.05.
* Stadhouderlijke Secretarie (Secretariat to the Stadtholder), 1747-1795, reference code 1.01.50.
* Grafelijkheidsrekenkamer rekeningen (Count's audit office accounts), 1446-1812, reference code 3.01.27.02.
* Raadpensionarissen (Grand Pensionaries), reference codes 3.01.13 to 3.01.26.
Various Dutch diplomatic missions and envoys in the Baltic Sea region:
* German Emperor, 1700-1810, reference code 1.02.05.
* German Reichstag, 1706-1794, reference code 1.02.06.
* Gerard Hamel Bruynincx (to the German Empire), 1659-1690, reference code 1.02.02.
* Coenraad van Heemskerck (to the German Emperor), 1690-1692, 1694-1697, reference code 1.02.01.
* Lower Saxony Kreits and Hanse towns, 1795-1809, reference code 1.02.09.
* Hanse towns, 1795-1841, reference code 2.05.10.06.
* Sweden, Prussia, Poland and Saxony, 1674-1810, reference code 1.02.07.
* Denmark, 1729-1810, reference code 1.02.12.
* Russia, 1720-1810, reference code 1.02.13.
See also the various archives deriving of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Family and personal archives and collections, for example:
* Van Adrichem family, 1546-1610, reference code 3.20.01, containing papers of Claes Adriaensz van Adrichem, grain merchant at Delft.
* Maarten van der Goes van Dirxland, 1758-1824, reference code 2.21.073, envoy to Denmark en Minister of Foreign Affairs among other functions.
* Boreel family, 1443-1931, reference code 1.10.10, members of which held political offices or served as diplomats.
* De Mortaigne family, 1639-1761, reference code 1.10.92.
Aanwinsten (Acquisitions), reference code 1.11.01.01, miscellaneous papers.
Maps:
* Ministry of Naval Affairs map collection, 17th-19th century, reference code 4.MCAL, including dozens of maps of the Baltic Sea region.
* Ministry of War, collection of "foreign maps of fortresses", 1609-1876, reference code 4.OBPV, containing a number of relevant town maps.
* Ministry of War, collection of foreign maps, 17th-19th century, reference code 4.OBK, including some relevant regional and town maps.
The Collection of Foreign Maps Leupe (reference code 4.VEL) and its supplement (reference code 4.VELH) also contain a few relevant maps.

One should note that in the Netherlands many relevant materials are kept by provincial and municipal archives (in particluar Amsterdam) as well as other institutions such as museums and university libraries.

_{Map of the Baltic Sea, with drawing illustrating the grain trade, published by Johannes van Keulen,}^{late 17th or 18th century}