Land Registry

The Land Registry is a valuable source of information for Old Aalten. This body records who owns land and buildings, what rights are attached to them, and the exact boundaries of each plot.

The Land Registry has officially existed in the Netherlands since 1832, but its origins lie in the Napoleonic era (1810–1811), when the entire country was surveyed and parcels were registered by name to ensure fair land taxation.

For quick orientation on cadastral information around 1832, we consult HisGIS. For cadastral data from the mid-19th century onwards, we use the Kadaster Archiefviewer (subscription required). This allows us to look back through the registers from approximately 1850 to 1985. For current parcel numbers, we consult the (commercial) website kadastrale kaart.

Researching cadastral information is often quite a puzzle; by combining these sources, a fairly complete and reliable picture usually emerges.

Information in the Land Registry

• Auxiliary maps – We track parcel boundaries through time using (historical) cadastral maps. The Kadaster Archiefviewer contains the most important historical maps and registers, making it possible to follow changes step-by-step via so-called auxiliary maps.
• Cadastral ledgers – The ledgers contain the owner, the use (e.g., house, yard, pasture, or factory), area, and subsequent mutations for each parcel.
• Please note: mutations are recorded by fiscal year (the administrative year of registration). The actual change—such as construction, subdivision, or demolition—often took place 1 to 2 years earlier!