The address books of the municipality of Aalten from 1934 and 1967 constitute a valuable source of information for historians and family researchers. These reference works contain an overview of all addresses and their residents in Aalten at the time, including Bredevoort and the surrounding rural districts.
1934 Address Book: Introduction of street names
Until well into the 20th century, addresses in the municipality of Aalten consisted of the name of the village center or rural district, followed by a house number. As the number of dwellings increased, the house numbering changed several times over the years. In 1933, official street names and house numbers were established for the first time in the built-up areas of Aalten and Bredevoort.
To provide insight into these changes, a guide was published in January 1934 containing an overview of the new and old house numbering. House numbers in the rural districts were also adjusted once again.
1967 Address Book: Further changes and growth
In February 1967, the seventh edition of the Address Book of the municipality of Aalten was published by Aaltens Belang. This edition contains a foreword, which includes the following:
“Since the 6th edition of our address book in December 1963, there have again been major migrations within this municipality, and the number of new streets has grown even further. Moreover, several streets have been completely renumbered. However, the most significant changes occurred in the rural districts. Until now, for example, we had numbers 1 through 162 in Barlo. Now the rural districts, just like the streets in the centers of Aalten and Bredevoort, have been numbered by road. In the future, this will of course be much easier, but it will take a generation before the new names and numbers are fully established. We have therefore also listed the old numbers behind the new ones.”
The 1967 address book is available as a PDF file and can be downloaded here:
Appeal: Do you have old address books?
Several address books were published in the period leading up to 1967, but unfortunately, we do not possess these editions. Do you have a copy of an older address book and would you allow us to scan it for our historical research? If so, please contact us!
