ANTWERP, a fortified city in Belgium on the right bank of the Schelde. It is the capital of the province of the same name and Belgium's commercial centre.
In the 4th century Antwerp is mentioned as one of the places in the second Germany, and in the i i th century Godfrey of Bouillon was for some years best known as marquis of Antwerp. Antwerp was the headquarters of Edward III. during his early negotiations with van Artevelde, and his son Lionel, earl of Cambridge, was born there in 1338. At the end of the 15th cen tury, with the closing of the Zwyn, the foreign trading gilds or houses were transferred from Bruges to Antwerp, and the building assigned to the English is mentioned in i s io. In 156o, the highest point of its prosperity, six nations, viz., Spaniards, Danes and Hansa together, Italians, English, Portuguese and Germans, were named and over i,000 foreign merchants were resident. Guicciar dini, the Venetian envoy, describes the activity of the port, into which 500 ships sometimes passed in a day, and as evidence of the extent of its land trade he mentioned that 2,000 carts entered the city each week. Venice had fallen from its first place in European commerce, but still it was active and prosperous. Its envoy, in explaining the importance of Antwerp, states that there was as much business done there in a fortnight as in Venice throughout the year.
The religious troubles that marked the second half of the i6th century broke out in Antwerp as in every other part of Belgium excepting Liege. In 1576 the Spanish soldiery plundered the town during what was called "the Spanish Fury," and 6,000 citizens were rule from to 1814, and also during the time Belgium formed part of the kingdom of the Netherlands (1815 to 183o). Antwerp had reached the lowest point of its fortunes in 1800, and its popu lation had sunk under 40,00o, when Napoleon, realizing its strate gical importance, assigned two millions for the construction of two docks and a mole.
In 183o the city was captured by the Belgian insurgents, but the citadel continued to be held by a Dutch garrison under Gen.
massacred. Eight hundred houses were burnt down, and over two millions sterling of damage was wrought in the town on that occasion.
In 1585 a severe blow was struck at the prosperity of Antwerp when Parma captured it after a long siege and sent all its Protes tant citizens into exile. The recognition of the independence of the United Provinces by the Treaty of Munster in 1648 carried with it a severe blow to Antwerp for it stipulated that the Schelde should be closed to navigation. This impediment remained in force until 1863, although the provisions were relaxed during French Chasse. For a time this officer subjected the town to a periodical bombardment which inflicted much damage, and at the end of 1832 the citadel itself was besieged by a French army. During this attack the town was further injured. In Dec. 1832, after a gallant defence, Chasse made an honourable surrender.
Between 1878 and 1914 it was converted from a fortress to a fortified position by construction of an outer line of forts 5 to I 101. from the city, but none of these had been completed when war was declared in Aug. 1914. The Belgian Government left Brussels for Antwerp on Aug. 17, 1914; and three days later the Belgian army took up a position behind the fortified lines. The bombardment began on Sept. 28 and on Oct. 9 the city surren dered. By that date only about a tenth of the population remained in the city. Some 30o houses were destroyed, mostly in the Marche-aux-Souliers, the Avenue d'Amerique and the suburbs near the forts. On Nov. 19, 1918, the king and queen of the Belgians entered the city in state.
Antwerp is finely laid out with broad avenues along the first enceinte. Long streets and terraces of fine houses belonging to merchants and manufacturers testify to its prosperity, and recall the i6th century distich that Antwerp was noted for its moneyed men ("Antwerpia nummis"). Despite war and disturbances it still preserves many memorials of its early grandeur, notably its fine cathedral, begun in the 14th century, but not finished till 1518. Its tower of over 400f t. is seen from afar over the flat country. A second tower was planned but never erected. The proportions of the interior are noble, and in the church are hung three of the masterpieces of Rubens, viz., "The Descent from the Cross," "The Elevation of the Cross" and "The Assumption." St. James is far more ornate than the cathedral, and contains the tomb of Rubens, who devoted himself to its embellishment. The old Bourse or Exchange (1531), said to be the first of its name in Europe, was burnt in 1858 and replaced by a new one in 1872. Fire has destroyed several other old buildings in the city, notably in 1891 the house of the Hansa League on the northern quays. The Maison Plantin, the house of the great 15th century printer C. Plantin (q.v.) and his successor Moretus, stands exactly as it did in the time of the latter. The new picture gallery close to the southern quays is a fine building divided into ancient and modern sections. The collection of old masters is very fine, containing many splendid examples of Rubens, Van Dyck, Metsys and the chief Dutch masters. Antwerp, famous in the middle ages and at the present time for its commercial enterprise, enjoyed in the 17th century a celebrity not less distinct or glorious in art for its school of painting, which included Rubens, Van Dyck, Jordaens, Breughel, the two Teniers and many others.
Commerce.—In 1863 Dutch rights to levy toll were redeemed by purchase and since then Antwerp has grown rapidly from about 500,000 tons of shipping inwards to 14,146,818 tons in 1913. The war made a complete break, but after the war trade rapidly sur passed pre-war achievements, with a tonnage of 15,050,182 in 1922, rising steadily to 22,794,896 in 1926. Docks were built pro gressively before 1914, and include (I) the little or Bonaparte dock, (2) the Willem dock, also of Napoleon's time, (3) the Junc tion dock, (4) the Kattendijk, built 186o, enlarged 1881, (5) the Wood dock, (6) the Campini dock, (7) the Asia dock linked by canal with the Meuse, as well as the Schelde, (8) the Lefebvre dock, (9) the America dock, opened 1905. Post-war extensions include construction of a canal dock over three miles long which stretches from the old wet dock No. 3 to the bend of the Schelde at Kruisschans, where it ends in a maritime lock approximately 886f t. long and 115f t. wide, with a depth ranging from 33 to 48f t. The dock itself is maintained at a constant depth of about 39f t., and is connected with the other docks in the harbour by a channel about 44oyd. long and II oyd. wide. Further schemes of extension included the construction of wet docks adjoining the canal dock and in 1925 the building of two wet and three dry docks was undertaken. The complete plan was designed to give the port a total dock water area of I,334ac. and a quayage length of 28 miles. The necessary railway extensions bring the length of the port railway system up to Soo miles. The improvements at Ant werp are not confined to the construction of new docks. The quays flanking the Schelde, 31m. in length, are of granite, with hydraulic cranes, warehouses, etc. The construction of river boats for export to Africa was resumed after 1918, and this industry rapidly approached its former importance. Shipbuilding proper showed but little prosperity; ship-repairing is done. In 1927 the port obtained the right to export Alsatian potash to the amount of 150,000 tons per annum and storage buildings for this are being built.
Limits and Population.—At the time of the declaration of Belgian independence Antwerp's defence was its citadel and an enceinte of about 2-1 miles. In 1859, in a general reorganization of Belgian defence, the old enceinte and the citadel with the exception of the Steen, now a historical museum, were removed. A new enceinte of 8m. was devised which is now being demolished to allow of further extensions. In May 1927 the area controlled by the municipality was increased by growth northwards to the extent of 3,500 hectares, with absorption of five villages. Napo leon thought the left bank of the Schelde was the most natural line of expansion of Antwerp and there have been projects of a tunnel under the river but nothing has yet been done.
In i800 the population did not exceed 40,00o. In 1846 it was 88,487; in 1851, 95,501; in 1880, 169,100; in 1900, 272,83o; in or, with two incorporated suburbs, 361,723; in 1930 the population of the city was 284,373• See C. Scribanii, Origines Antwerpiensium and Antwerpia (161o) ; J. L. Motley, Rise of the Dutch Republic (1859) ; a Gens, Histoire de la ville d'Anvers (i861) ; P. Genard, Anvers a travers les ages (2 vols., 1888-92) ; W. C. Robinson, Antwerp (1904) ; J. Wegg, Antwerp, 1477-1559 (1916), Decline of Antwerp under Philip of Spain (1924) ; T. A. Goris, Etude sur les colonies marchandes a Anvers (1925). See also Annuaire statistique de la Belgique, and for recent events bibliographies of the World War.