Antwerp

Antwerp, city, Belgium

Antwerp, Du. Antwerpen, Fr. Anvers, city (1991 pop. 467,518), capital of Antwerp prov., N Belgium, on the Scheldt River. It is one of the busiest ports in Europe; a commercial, industrial, and financial center; and a rail junction. The city is linked with industrial E Belgium (especially Liège) by the Albert Canal and has a large transit trade to and from Germany (especially the Ruhr district). Manufactures of Antwerp and its surrounding region include refined petroleum, petrochemicals, dyes, photographic supplies, motor vehicles, leather goods, and processed food. In addition, the city is a major international center of the diamond trade, has large shipyards, and is the seat of the world's first stock exchange (founded 1460).

The artistic fame of Antwerp dates from the rule (15th cent.) of Philip the Good of Burgundy, who founded an academy of painting. The painters Quentin Massys and Peter Paul Rubens resided in the city, and Anthony Van Dyck was born there. Many of their works are in the museums and churches of Antwerp. Christophe Plantin made (16th cent.) the city a center of printing; his house is a museum.

Among Antwerp's many splendid structures are the large Gothic Cathedral of Notre Dame (14th–16th cent.), with a spire c.400 ft (122 m) high; the churches of St. James (containing the tomb of Rubens) and St. Paul (both 16th cent.); the Renaissance-style city hall (mid-16th cent.); Rubens's house (now a museum); and old guildhalls lining the Groote Markt [marketplace]. Antwerp also has a zoological garden and a noted school of music.

History

Antwerp was a small trading center by the early 8th cent. It was destroyed by the Normans in 836, but by the 11th cent. it was a fairly important port. The city was chartered in 1291. Antwerp was held (13th to mid-14th cent.) by Brabant and then became an early seat of the counts of Flanders. In the 15th cent. it rose to prominence as Bruges and Ghent declined. In 1446 the English Merchant Adventurers and other traders motivated port trade by moving their operations from Bruges to Antwerp. By the middle of the 16th cent. Antwerp was Europe's chief commercial and financial center. The diamond industry, established in the 15th cent., had expanded considerably after the arrival (early 16th cent.) of Jewish artisans expelled from Portugal. The city's prosperity suffered in 1576, when it was sacked and about 6,000 of its inhabitants killed by Spanish troops (the "Spanish fury"), and again in 1584–85, when the city was captured by the Spanish under Alessandro of Farnese after a 14-month siege.

Under the Peace of Westphalia (1648), the Scheldt was closed to navigation (as a means of favoring Amsterdam), and Antwerp declined rapidly. The city revived with the opening of the Scheldt by the French in 1795 and with the expansion of its port facilities by Napoleon I. The incorporation (1815) of Belgium into the Netherlands again hindered Antwerp's economic development, a situation that was continued by the Dutch-Belgian treaty of separation (1839), which gave the Netherlands the right to collect tolls on Scheldt shipping. The expansion of Antwerp as a major modern port dates only from 1863, when, by a cash payment, Belgium ended Dutch restrictions on traffic on the Scheldt. Antwerp was seriously damaged in World War I when it was captured (Oct., 1914) by the Germans after a 12-day siege. In World War II it was again taken (May, 1940) by the Germans, who bombarded it heavily after it had been recaptured (Sept., 1944) by the Allies.

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Antwerp, province, Belgium

Antwerp (ăn`twûrp), Du. Antwerpen, Fr. Anvers, province (1991 pop. 1,605,167), 1,104 sq mi (2,859 sq km), N Belgium, bordering on the Netherlands in the north. Antwerp (the provincial capital) and Mechelen are the chief cities. The province is largely a flat, cultivated plain, drained by the Scheldt River and its tributaries and served by the Albert Canal. It is mostly Dutch-speaking and was part of the duchy of Brabant.

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Antwerp

 French Anvers Flemish Antwerpen

City (pop., 2000 est.: 446,500), capital of Antwerp province, Belgium. One of the world's major seaports, it is located 55 mi (88 km) southeast of the North Sea. Because it lies in the Flemish-speaking part of Belgium, it plays the role of unofficial capital of Flanders. It received municipal rights in 1291 and became a member of the Hanseatic League by 1315. As a distribution centre for Spanish and Portuguese trade, it became the commercial and financial capital of Europe in the 16th century. Following destructive invasions it went into decline but began to revive after Napoleon's improvement of the harbour c. 1803. It was part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (1815–30), then was ceded to Belgian nationalists. Its current economic life centres around shipping, port-related activities, and major manufacturing.