The Netherlands and the Baltic countries 1191-1792

Executed by G.W. Kernkamp

Trade with countries situated around the Baltic Sea was important for the economic development of the Netherlands. This was closely linked to the struggle for control over the Baltic Sea area. Therefore, carrying out systematic research in the Baltic Sea towns to identify archivalia on diplomatic and economic contacts with the Netherlands has long been a high priority.

As early as 1909, the publication Baltische archivalia came out. It reported on research carried out in archives in Sweden (Stockholm) and Denmark (Copenhagen), as well as archives and libraries in different German Baltic towns (Kiel, Lübeck, Wismar, Rostock, Stralsund, Greifswald, Stettin, Danzig and Königsberg). In the case of this particular publication the focus was on presenting a selective description of documents: not all of the trading towns around the Baltic Sea were visited and the inventory of archivalia remains incomplete. However, the archivalia mentioned in the book of transcripts (chartulary) or otherwise quoted at length can provide the first reference point for research.

There is an index of personal and place names at the back of Baltische archivalia, as well as a chronological and systematic index. A more recent description of Swedish archivalia can be found in a publication by J. Römelingh entitled Een rondgang langs Zweedse archieven. Een onderzoek inzake de betrekkingen tussen Nederland en Zweden 1520-1920 [A tour of Swedish archives. A study of the links between the Netherlands and Sweden 1520-1920] (The Hague 1986), which was also published in the RGP series of the Netherlands.