The National Archives… that sounds impressive. But what exactly is happening in that huge building next to Central Station in The Hague? And what exactly do they keep there? NEMO Kennislink visits.
It's a hot summer day and everyone is puffing outside. The perfect time to visit an archive, because that's where they cool the storage jars. The National Archives (NA) in The Hague is the largest archive in the Netherlands. The archive preserves nearly a thousand years of history in no fewer than twenty depots:the oldest archival document is a papal charter from 1179. These depositories are not open to visitors every day, but those who want to see more can take a guided tour at the weekend. The study of archival documents takes place in a separate reading room.
Many kilometers of paper
Together with Elwin Hendrikse, photography collection specialist at the NA, I take a tour of the building and immediately get a look behind the scenes. In one of the depots, Hendrikse knocks on a thick column:“This is the first modern archive building, it dates from 1979, which was actually built for that purpose. It has an amazing carrying capacity and that is necessary.” This is where the treasures from Dutch history are stored, in the form of lots and lots of paper. In total, the National Archives manages 125 kilometers of documents, maps, drawings and photos. Most of these come from the central government and the province of South Holland.
Hendrikse explains:“We mainly store government archives in the archive. This is where the history of decision-making, the creation of laws and spatial planning, such as the construction of a highway, lies. Historians and archivists decide for each archive what is important enough to keep. In addition to political archives, we also keep private archives, but for the history of the common man you have to go to other institutions, such as the Meertens Institute.”
Conducting scientific research itself is not the NA's main task, but making information available to third parties is. According to Hendrikse, the most popular archives among researchers are those of the Second World War and the Dutch East India Company. Much information about the latter is also available overseas, in the archives of the former colonies. “You may not expect it, but most of the research in the National Archives is done by private individuals and not by scientists. Like retirees looking for their roots and young people who want to know more about the war.”
Check government
The archive was created in 1802, during the occupation of the Netherlands by the French. The French motto of the time, Freedom, Equality and Fraternity, also influenced Dutch law. An important reason for the establishment of the archive was the democratic review. Hendrikse:“In addition to being a storage location, the NA is also the place to monitor the actions of the government, the starting point for citizens seeking justice and evidence.”
Education is now also an important pillar of the National Archives. Schoolchildren are given guided tours and since 2013, the archive has put together changing exhibitions from their own archive material, including the enormous photo archive. With 15 million photos, this is the largest photo collection in the Netherlands. Many photos come from the government, for example from the Government Information Service. But the archive also contains many photos from press archives. Hendrikse:“Photos are important as a source, in addition to the written sources that we keep in the collection, to fill in the image we have of the past. Photos are only becoming more important in that regard.”
Sour fingers
Hendrikse leads along endless rows of file folders, cupboards with revolving doors and racks with boxes. “Photos are fragile and in order not to wear them out, we store them under a constant temperature, stored in sleeves and special boxes. You should also not touch them without gloves because of the acid and moisture that is standard on your hands. This affects the photos.”
In yet another depot are rows of chests of drawers where the press photos are stored by theme and name. Hendrikse opens a drawer:“These photos were used for publication in newspapers and magazines, and the editors were not too careful with them. It has even been written on or cut into it.” A good example is an cleaned version of a purchased French photo with the actress Pascale Petit. “This photo is from the sixties and as you can read on the back, in the Netherlands they thought her cleavage was too showy for publication. To solve this, they pasted another piece of the photo over it. The forerunner of Photoshop”, Hendrikse laughs.
No movement?
This photo archive also contains very rare old photos from the early years of photography. The oldest photo in the collection is a portrait of J.T. Boelen from 1847. Carefully, almost tenderly, Hendrikse takes the photo:“This find was a surprise. The photo was in a family archive, loose among the papers. The photo was still made according to the French daguerrotype process, one of the first methods in photography. Technical developments went fast and after about twenty years photographers switched to faster and cheaper methods.”
Another special and old photo that Hendrikse shows enthusiastically is that of a railway bridge from 1871:“At that time, the camera was not yet able to capture movement. It therefore seems that few people were present during the construction of this bridge because you only see the figures that are standing still. Not even the floating clouds or rippling waves can be seen. In reality, such a construction site was very busy.”
Travel photography exhibition
Hendrikse also compiles the photo exhibitions in the National Archives. On 9 September the new exhibition On the road will open. Traveling with the photographer. With 235 vintage prints, visitors get an overview of travel photography since 1860 and see how photographers portrayed their travel experiences. “At exhibitions, we only show original photos. These are the prints that the photographer made himself or that date from the time of the photo.”
The discovery of photography in 1839 and the increase in the number of travelers went more or less in parallel. The exhibition tells the story of the combination of the two:travel photography. Some of the travelers went out with a camera at the end of the century. We see photos from early explorers capturing unknown cultures and landscapes to rare photos of closed societies, such as Russia shortly after World War II.
Hendrikse has arranged the travel photos under the themes of discovering, documenting and amazement. “Discovering, for example, includes Robert Scott's 1910 voyage to Antarctica. This series is one of my favorites. Scott first took a photographer, Herbert G. Ponting, to this inhospitable area. In addition to the sublime photos taken under extremely difficult conditions (-40C), the story is also dramatic. Scott did not survive the trip. So there are several facets that make these photos of Antarctica important, which is why they have been given a place in the exhibition.”
The National Archives is a participant of the Science Weekend. The Weekend of Science is the stage of the future. Various organizations – companies, institutes, research institutions, universities, museums and observatories – will open their doors on 7 and 8 October 2017 to give visitors of all ages the opportunity to experience the world of science and technology live. They organize unique and exclusive activities, such as trials, experiments, demonstrations, open days, exhibitions and more.
Everyone is welcome to go backstage at the participating organizations. Look here for all activities during the Weekend of Science.