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Did you know that during the fire on 17 May 1940, the Middelburg municipal archive was largely lost?

In het stadhuis. Zeeuws Archief, Verzameling Beeld en Geluid, inv.nr 131-05.

The municipal archives were moved in 1939 from the town hall attic to the rear part of the Vleeshal, next to the town hall. There, the Municipal Works Department had made wooden racks and placed a fireproof door.

The oldest city bills, dating back to 1365, had just been fitted with new tires. The oldest still present city right in Middelburg (1254, going back to an earlier city right from 1217) was safely stored away, it was thought …

During the fire in the town hall the archive in the Vleeshal went up in flames. The paper scraps smoldered six weeks later and ignited due to increasing wind.