What does it take to prepare thousands of historical documents for a major relocation, and what does the team at Luxembourg’s National Archives currently face?
Those 50 kilometres of files, essentially the paper trail of Luxembourgish history, are today stored across several locations. By the end of next year, they are set to come together under one roof in a new building in Esch-sur-Alzette’s Belval district.
The national archives are often called the country’s collective memory, supporting administrations, researchers, and private individuals who need to take a deep dive into the records of ministries and public services. Here, documents are gathered, preserved, and made accessible to everyone who seeks to explore the nation’s past.
Known over the years as the provincial archive, the government’s archive, and later the state archive, the national archives have changed address almost as often as they have changed name. Since 1968, the collections have been housed in an old military building on the Plateau du Saint-Esprit. But as the decades passed, the growing volume of documents simply no longer fit.
At first, files overflowed into the hallways. Eventually, they had to be spread out across additional storage sites as the archives continued to expand. From spring 2026, however, the entire collection will begin its move to a brand-new building in Belval, which is set to officially open in October 2026.
For months, preparations have been taking place across all six current sites to take inventory of all moving materials, not just to take stock of every item but to optimise the organisation of the collections, ready for the archives’ new home.
