MAPS AND DRAWINGS OF THE NETHERLANDS, 16TH-20TH CENTURIES

PART II: COLLECTIONS OF THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS (GENIE)

IIa. Plans of Buildings, 17th-20th centuries

IIb. Situation plans of forts and fortified towns (17th-19th centuries)

On microfiche

 This microfiche series from the National Archives of the Netherlands is the domestic counterpart to "Images of East and West: Maps, Plans, Views and Drawings from Dutch Colonial Archives, 1583-1963", also available from MMF.

Part II: Maps and Drawings of the Corps of Engineers

The holdings of maps and drawings of the Corps of Engineers in the National Archives of the Netherlands contain much more than just the maps of engineers. At the beginning of the nineteenth century the map collection of the War Department received on deposit not only maps, but also drawings and reports belonging to the Stadholder, the Council of State and the States of Holland, in other words, the collections of many organs and persons that had been charged with the military government of respectively the Dutch Republic and the province of Holland in the 17th and 18th centuries. These complete archives were kept at the War Department until 1940.

Part IIa. Plans of Buildings, 17th-20th centuries

This section includes the architectural plans, detailed drawings, photos, cross-sections and views of every imaginable sort of edifice designed, built and maintained on Netherlands territory by Dutch military engineers in war and peacetime from 1700 until the beginning of the Second World War in May 1940. The more than 9,000 images include large- and small-scale military structures of the infantry, cavalry, artillery, navy and engineers such as
— forts, arsenals, shell and powder magazines, batteries, gun emplacements and carriages, bomb-free shelters
— military prisons and detention centers, guardhouses
— hospitals, infirmaries, pharmacies, disinfection and quarantine quarters, laboratories
— bakeries, slaughterhouses, butchers, food storage facilities
— kitchens, canteens, mess halls and officers' dining halls
— quartermasters stores
— gunmakers- and other workplaces, stables, blacksmiths
— garages, repair shops
— baths, washrooms, laundries
— swimming pools, sport facilities, exercise and drilling grounds, target ranges, parade grounds and indoor and outdoor equestrian tracks
— heating, drinking, plumbing, sewage, and lighting facilities
— barracks for enlisted men, housing for married troops, officers' living quarters
— military police stations
— governors' palaces, (former) royal palace at The Hague
— privies and latrines
— schools and training facilities for military cadets
— offices and storage buildings of all kinds
— steam engines, generators and power stations
— bridges and locks, sluices and flood-inundation systems, docks and rail facilities

New inventory available

It is safe to say that this collection provides the most complete picture of the physical structures of a military enterprise ever made available in microform or any other medium. A new inventory by the National Archives of the Netherlands recently completed 1995 and free with purchase of a complete set, makes the collection optimally available for research for the first time.

Taken together with the earlier publication in microform of the archive of plans and drawings of the Government Buildings Agency (Rijksgebouwendienst) (available from MMF as "Public Architecture in the Netherlands, 1824-1945"), the appearance of this collection now makes both the civilian and military architectural history of the Netherlands since 1700 until the Second World War completely accessible for research.

Part IIb. Situation plans of forts and fortified towns (17th-19th centuries)

These more than 950 maps were mostly drawn in the second half of the nineteenth century with a view toward establishing a prohibited zone around forts, fortified towns and other defense works in the Netherlands.
Order no.: M410
Size: 165 microfiches
Collection price: € 585

The series "Maps and Drawings of the Netherlands"

The maps and drawings in this series provide both a small- and large-scale overview of Dutch territory in the period 1600-1930, including the border regions. They offer insight into and give detailed information on national defense by tracing the various lines of fortifications and the fortified towns. These maps furnish us with knowledge of the architecture of numerous buildings, including not only strictly military objects such as barracks, but also buildings appropriated for military purposes by the army of the States, such as monasteries. Since the topographical mapping of the country has been considered a military matter from the second half of the 18th century until recently, we find the topographical history of the Netherlands in that period in these collections.

 

Also available in this series

Part I. Dutch Domestic Maps and Drawings, 16th-19th centuries

Order no.: M406
Size: 1,830 microfiches
Collection price: € 6,465

Part IIc. Plans of forts and fortified towns (17th-19th centuries)

Order no.: M412
Size: 1,377 microfiches
Collection price: € 5,735

All parts are accompanied by printed inventories and a publisher's guide and concordance

Special offer: Maps and Drawings of the Netherlands, complete set (4 parts), € 16,595
(total separately € 18,440)