Archives from an international commission set up in the 1950s to study and protect the Rhine river are now available for consultation at the Historical Archives of the European Union (HAEU).
The International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine (ICPR) deposited its archives at the HAEU in 2023. From this deposit, 481 archival files covering the period from the creation of the ICPR in 1950 to approximately 2004 have been described and are now included in the HAEU online database. The materials include mainly the correspondence and minutes of meetings of its governing bodies, technical reports and minutes of meetings by the various working groups and the reports published by the ICPR, and may be consulted according to the thirty-years rule.
The documents shed light on the creation and activities of the ICPR, its administrative organisation, and its main initiatives since its Convention came into force in 1963. The Commission’s actions up through the mid-1980s are especially well-documented in the fonds.
About the ICPR
Founded in 1950 by Switzerland, Germany, France, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, the ICPR was set up to study pollution in the Rhine, standardise research methods and implement water protection measures across the participating countries. In 1976, the European Economic Community (EEC), the predecessor of the European Union, joined the ICPR.
The measurable success of the ICPR’s international, trans-boundary approach to protecting the Rhine made it a model for numerous other river and basin commissions in Europe, including entities set up to protect the Elbe, Danube and Moselle rivers.
The International Standard Archival Authority Record (ISAAR) for the newly available ICPR fonds is available here.
Consult the ICPR inventory online.
Photo courtesy of the International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine.