The item shown is Harmonia Macrocosmica, a celestial atlas depicting 30 stunning images of the cosmos as imagined by astronomers at the time. The atlas dates back to 1660. The creator of this artefact, Andreas Cellarius (1596 - 1665), was a Dutch-German cartographer famous in his day for producing one of the most important celestial atlases.
Since the most far-off times, mankind has depicted the surrounding Universe and associated it with real or imaginary animals (crabs, goats, centaurs, bears, etc.). Mankind has discovered and drawn celestial bodies, stars, and even phases of the moon.
We are fortunate to have an atlas such as this, revealing as it does the hopes of mankind in the XVII century and enabling mankind today to remember where the future lies.
The Royal Library is the repository for accounts of mankind’s advances. The Library is a working instrument as well as a memorial to the human race. It is a place of discovery and contemplation.
www.kbr.be
History and awareness about the past and future have always been the subject of political abuse. Nazi propaganda offers a vivid example in this regard.
These Nazi postcards mark a response to Belgian public opinion which, in 1943 - 1944, wanted to see the Germans vanquished more than ever. Produced in the style of a cartoon and playing on the notion of time, the propaganda warns against what would happen in the event of a victory for what it describes as ‘Jewish bolshevism’. The role of the historian is to conduct a critical analysis and set this type of message in its context.
Propaganda Abteilung, four postcards; 140/102 mm, colour-printed card (1943 or 1944).
The assigned objective of the Centre for Historical Research and Documentation on War and Contemporary Society (CEGES-SOMA) is to provide a Belgian reference centre covering the history of the major political, social and cultural conflicts from the twentieth century. Its sets out to achieve this objective by acquiring, preserving and accessing documentation made up of archive as well as library and audiovisual material, and by encouraging, developing and disseminating the benefits of scientific research to as wide an audience as possible.
www.cegesoma.be
Dossier taken from the Archives of the Public Safety and Security Administration (Aliens Department) – General files: second transfer relating to the Association for the Defence of Immigrants’ Rights in Belgium, with a letter from Isabelle Blum to the Justice Minister regarding the matter mentioned above. 1946.
The State Archives include the State Archives in Belgium, located in Brussels, and 17 depots spread across the country.
The Archives are responsible for the careful conservation of a large number of documents produced by public bodies and individuals: from the archives of Courts and tribunals through to those of notaries via the memoirs of families or politicians.
Archivistics, which is the science of archive production, adheres to the principles and processes of conservation and categorisation as well as document conversion.
www.arch.be