The archives of Vlissingen-based Koninklijke Maatschappij De Schelde (KMS) have been included in UNESCO’s Netherlands Memory of the World Register, the national list of documentary heritage. According to Het Zeeuwse Archief (Zeeland Archives), the KMS archives are iconic for the Dutch shipbuilding industry, which is why the archives applied for UNESCO status. On 14 December, UNESCO announced that the Schelde archive would be added to the register, along with five other documentary works of national importance.

In 2010, Damen Naval transferred the Schelde archive from 1875 to 1970 to the Vlissingen Municipal Archives, and in 2020 it moved to the Zeeuwse Archief. “The KMS archives are the only ones in the Netherlands to document in detail the history of shipbuilding from 1875 to 1970. The archives of no other yard were preserved in their entirety,” writes the Zeeuws Archief in the press release in honour of the announcement. “With the KMS, Dutch shipbuilding entered the modern era of iron, steel, and steam. Ships previously ordered abroad could now be built in Vlissingen. Innovation played a major role, both in technology, from steam to (diesel) engines, and in materials, from iron, steel to aluminium. The construction of Holland’s first submarine by the KMS in 1905 proved groundbreaking.”

Worth a visit: employees of Damen Naval were given a tour of the Zeeland Archives in November. Worth a visit: employees of Damen Naval were given a tour of the Zeeland Archives in November.

The Schelde archives took centre stage during the Zeeland Archives’ Open Day at the beginning of November, and because Damen Naval is the main sponsor, two afternoons were organised when staff received a presentation on the archives and a tour of the facilities. Should the opportunity present itself in the future, the Zeeland Archives are well worth a visit.

On 14 December, it was announced that the following six institutions will receive entries on UNESCO’s Dutch Memory of the World Register. In honour of this, the institutions will receive the special Unesco Memory of the World Flag.

The following nominations have been added to the Dutch Memory of the World Register:
* Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana (Allard Pierson Museum)
* Capitulation Document Rotterdam (Museum Overloon)
* Collection Herensia FoHiKuBo (Bonaire)
* Graduale by Johannes van Deventer (Erfgoedcentrum Nederlands Kloosterleven)
* Polygone Journal (Nederlands Instituut voor Beeld en Geluid)
* Archives of the Koninklijke Maatschappij de Schelde (Zeeuws Archief)

To overview