Historical Background

Antwerp's origins are the subject of much debate. However, excavations have shown that there was habitation on the bend in the river Scheldt beginning in the Gallo-Roman period of the 2nd century.

The old village was destroyed by Normans in 836 and the first traces of Antwerp as a fortified settlement date back to 980. In 1356 the city was annexed to the County of Flanders. As a result, it lost much of its power until fifty years later, with the rise of the Golden Age.

The economic boom in the first half of the 14th century made Antwerp the most important trading and financial center in Western Europe; its reputation was based largely on its strong seaport and wool markets.

Around 1450, Antwerp had 20,000 inhabitants, and it had become the largest market town in Brabant. Some famous names from that age include the painters Quinten Metsys and Bruegel, as well as the printer Plantijn, and the humanists and scientists Lipsius, Mercator, Dodoens and Ortelius.

However, in the second half of that century, the city became the center of a political and religious struggle between the Protestant North and Catholic Spain. First there was the Iconoclasm in 1566, then the Spanish Fury in 1576. The Fall of Antwerp came shortly thereafter, in 1585.

After the Fall, the city came under the rule of Philip II and the Northern Netherlands closed off the Scheldt. Economically, this was a disaster. To make matters worse, it was not only the protestants who fled the city but also the commercial and intellectual elite.

Yet arts and culture in the city continued to flourish. Antwerp is home to painters like Rubens, Van Dyck, Jordaens and Teniers, and the sculptor families Quellin and Verbrugghen. Printing also became a major industry here.

1650 to 1800 is a fairly uneventful period. The Scheldt remained closed to traffic and the metropolis became a provincial town. Under Austrian rule from 1715 to 1792, Joseph II tried to free the river by military force. However, the plan failed. In 1795, under French occupation, it succeeded despite encountering an English blockade.

After the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815, there followed a short-lived reunification with the Northern Netherlands. There was an equally brief period of prosperity that ended with the Belgian Revolution in 1830 and the closing of the river Scheldt.

It was reopened permanently in 1863. Apart from interruptions during the two World Wars, Antwerp experienced steady economic growth in the 20th century. Its importance as one of the major European art cities was confirmed in 1993, when Antwerp was nominated "Cultural Capital of Europe."

Today, this city made of many different nationalities continues to thrive, grow and set and example for the international community.

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