rdeknijf/erfgoed-s-hertogenbosch

Erfgoed 's-Hertogenbosch — Den Bosch Heritage Archive

Search 900+ archives covering 's-Hertogenbosch, Rosmalen, Bokhoven, Empel, Engelen, Nuland, Orthen, and Vinkel. Includes civil registration, DTB church records, population registers (1810-1939), housing registers (1930-1994), servant records (1860-1939), and notarial records.

No login required for searching and viewing records.

The search portal is on a separate subdomain: zoeken.erfgoedshertogenbosch.nl.

Browser automation via playwright-cli

All browser interaction uses playwright-cli via Bash with a named session:

playwright-cli -s=denbosch open
playwright-cli -s=denbosch goto "<url>"
playwright-cli -s=denbosch snapshot
# Read .playwright-cli/*.yml to find refs, then interact
playwright-cli -s=denbosch fill <ref> "search text"
playwright-cli -s=denbosch click <ref>
playwright-cli -s=denbosch close

Workflow

1. Navigate to person search

playwright-cli -s=denbosch goto "https://zoeken.erfgoedshertogenbosch.nl/zoeken.php?zoeken[beschrijvingsgroepen][]=38089355"
playwright-cli -s=denbosch snapshot

The beschrijvingsgroepen parameter pre-selects "Personen en locaties" which is the genealogy-relevant collection.

2. Fill the search form

The form uses POST with a CSRF token. Playwright handles this automatically since you fill and submit in-browser.

Key fields:

| Field | HTML id | Notes | |-------|---------|-------| | Familienaam | formfield-14-familienaam | Surname — include prefix (e.g., "de Knijf") | | Vrij zoeken | formfield-4-vrij-zoeken | Free text search across all fields | | Periode (van) | formfield-10-periode-van | Date from, format: dd-mm-jjjj | | Periode (tot) | formfield-10-periode-tot | Date to, format: dd-mm-jjjj | | Rol | formfield-18-rol | Role filter — autocomplete (Gedoopte, Vader, Moeder, etc.) | | Plaats | formfield-24-plaats | Place — autocomplete | | Soort bron | formfield-28-soort-bron | Source type — autocomplete (DTB Dopen, etc.) |

There is also a "Zoeken met spellingsvarianten" checkbox (#zoeken_spellingsvariant) that enables fuzzy matching on surname spelling — useful for older records.

3. Submit and read results

Click the "Zoeken" submit button. Results appear as a table with columns: Beschrijving, Naam, Rol, Datum, Plaats.

Results are paginated (14 per page). Total count shown in heading.

4. View a record

Click a result to open the detail page. For person records, this shows:

• Identificatie — record ID code
• Datum — event date
• Soort — record type (e.g., "DTB Dopen", "BS Overlijden")
• Toegang — archive collection reference
• Bron — source reference
• Kerk — church (for DTB records)
• Kerkelijke Gezindte — denomination

Personen section lists all persons in the record:

• Naam (name)
• Geslacht (gender: m/v)
• Rol (role: Gedoopte, Vader, Moeder, Bruidegom, Bruid, etc.)
• Wettig (legitimate: Ja/Nee)

5. Check for scans

Some records have digitized scans attached. Look for scan images below the record data. Many DTB person records do NOT have scans — the "Digitaliseren" button will be disabled with "niet beschikbaar" tooltip.

Filtering results

On the results page, use the "Soort bron" filter checkboxes in the left sidebar to narrow by source type:

• DTB Dopen (baptisms)
• Begraveningen (DTB) (burials)
• Ondertrouw voor 1811 (marriage banns pre-1811)
• And others specific to 's-Hertogenbosch

Record types available

| Type | Period | Content | |------|--------|---------| | DTB Dopen | ~1560-1811 | Baptism records from various churches | | DTB Trouwen | ~1560-1811 | Marriage records | | DTB Begraven | ~1560-1811 | Burial records | | BS Geboorte | 1811+ | Civil birth records | | BS Huwelijk | 1811+ | Civil marriage records | | BS Overlijden | 1811+ | Civil death records | | Bevolkingsregister | 1810-1939 | Population registers | | Notariele akten | Various | Notarial records | | Huisvestingsregister | 1930-1994 | Housing registers |

Quirks

• CSRF token: The form requires a unique-token hidden field. playwright-cli handles this automatically since it fills and submits in-browser.
• Autocomplete fields: Rol, Plaats, Soort bron use jQuery Chosen dropdowns. Type the value and select from suggestions.
• Date format: dd-mm-jjjj (day-month-year, 4-digit year).
• Cookie consent banner appears until dismissed.
• Platform: Deventit Atlantis — same platform used by several Dutch archives.
• nav_id parameter: Used for search context in URLs (e.g., nav_id=0-0 for results, nav_id=0-1 for detail view).

Output format

## Erfgoed 's-Hertogenbosch Result — [record type]

**Person:** [name]
**Role:** [Gedoopte / Vader / Moeder / etc.]
**Event:** [type], [date] in [place]

**Father:** [name]
**Mother:** [name]

**Record type:** [DTB Dopen / BS Overlijden / etc.]
**Church:** [if DTB]
**Archive ref:** [Toegang, Bron]
**Record ID:** [Identificatie code]
**Scan:** [available / not available]

**Confidence:** Tier B — official archive record from Erfgoed 's-Hertogenbosch