Draft:Antwerpen-Noord

Antwerp 2060
Antwerp 2060;
	Aerial view of the Antwerp 2060 from Sinksenfoor
	Map of 2060
	Coordinates: 51°15′36″N 04°24′09″E / 51.26000°N 4.40250°E
Country	Belgium
Region	Flanders
Municipality	Antwerp
Districts of Antwerp	Antwerp (district)
Population (january 1st 2023)
• Total	43,628

Antwerpen-Noord, colloquially also known by its postal code as Antwerpen 2060, is a neighborhood in the Belgian city of Antwerp. It is roughly confined by the Italiëlei in the west, Gemeentestraat and Carnotstraat in the south, Kerkstraat and Pothoekstraat in the east and the Albert Canal and other docks in the north.

History

The area that is currently known as Antwerpen-Noord has long been a rural outpost for the city of Antwerp. Antwerp has repeatedly expanded its city walls throughout the centuries, and the history of Antwerpen-Noord takes an important turn with the demolition of the so-called Spanish walls from 1864 on. These Spanish walls, commissioned in 1542 by emperor Charles V, were taken down to expand the city after the opening of the river Scheldt and the following boom of Antwerp. De Leien or Boulevard came in the place of the former walls, and they form the western border of Antwerpen-Noord.

Until then, the area had seen only small developments. This was mainly because it was forbidden to construct buildings from stone within XXX meters of the city walls, to prevent enemy shelter in the case of battle. Apart from some wooden constructions, there was not much. Further away from the fortification there was room for functions that had no space inside the city walls. In the 19th century, there was already a quarantine house, on a site that would later become the Stuivenberg hospital. Similarly, there were fortresses called fort Pereyra as part of the Eighty Years' War and later fort Carnot on the Stuivenberg, a toponym for the relatively higher position in the landscape. Also in the 19th century, a railway was constructed linking Antwerp to Rotterdam. Its route went straight through the neighborhood.

The Saint-Willibrord church has been the first centre of settlement outside the city walls long before they were taken down. It lies just north of the road linking Antwerp to Turnhout, an important trade link, currently known as the Carnotstraat. The namesake is the French general Lazare Carnot, who decided not to burn down the neighboring municipality of Borgerhout, unlike others, in the Napoleonic Wars. The Carnotstraat is the southern border of Antwerpen-Noord. On the other side of it lies Antwerpen 2018 with its Diamond district and Jewish quarter.

The eastern neighbor is Borgerhout. Now an indistinguishable part of the same larger city of Antwerp, it used to be a separate municipality in its own right. Nonetheless, contacts between the Saint-Willibrord parish and Borgerhout have always been strong. The border between them is now completely invisible but used to be a waterway in the rural unbuilt landscape, called the Potvliet or Vuilbeek. It is said that the stream was stinky because of a laundry bleacher upstream in Borgerhout. The course of the water still determines the political border between the districts of Antwerp and Borgerhout after their joining together in the same municipality in 1983. It is marked by dedicated stones in the pavement.

molens

battlefields

hoven van playisantie

unplanned development steegjes

belang haven

leegloop

migranten

reconversie

Demographics

Names & Quarters

Seefhoek - Faboert - 2060 - Vijfde Wijk - ...

Chinatown & De Coninckplein

Atheneum

Amandus

Stuivenberg

Sint-Willibrordus

Dam

Public institutions

scholen, typische stijl

Stuivenberg

Zwembad

Green

While green is sparse in the area, there are some parks and other amenities. In 2008, the former NMBS railway maintenance sites were converted into the largest park of Antwerp with 18 ha, entirely in Antwerpen-Noord. Close by is the Stuivenbergplein.

Economy

Veritas

Sint-Gummaruststraat

Diepestraat

Offerandestraat

Carnotstraat

Public transport

trolleybus

Dam

Schijnpoort

premetro's

tram 12

Yearly events

Many local organisations organize gathering every now and then. Some bigger festivities that take place every year:

• Two times a year there is a fair at Sint-Jansplein, around one in the spring and one in autumn.

• The Noorderlicht Parade goes out during the month of december, forming a parade of candles and artworks through the streets.

• The local comittee near Willibrordus church organizes a festival “Kerkstraat plage” every summer and a winter happening “Warm Winters Wijkfeest in december.

Origin of street names

While there is no general pattern in the street names, many of them can be grouped in a few clusters.

In reference to the Stuivenberg hospital and nascient modern medicine, some streets have been named after doctors. Examples: Boerhaavestraat, Jan Palfijnstraat, Van Helmontstraat, Korte and Lange Ypermanstraat.
As an hommage to the pastoral history, many streets are named after horticultural and agricultural products. Examples: Tulpstraat, Veldstraat, Erwtenstraat, Selderstraat, Meloenstraat. Comparable: Duinstraat, Hederstraat, Herderinstraat.
The opening of many streets happened just after the birth of Flemish literature. Most famously Hendrik Consience, but other writers too hail from Antwerp. Some streets are named after them. Examples: Zetternamstraat, Sleeckxstraat, August Sniedersstraat, Van Kerkchovenstraat.
The triplet Rotterdam-, Holland- and Spoorstraat refers to the railway that originally went straight through the neighborhood on its way between Antwerpen-Centraal and the Netherlands.

Notable people

References