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ANTWERP (Fr. Anvers)
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See also:ANTWERP (Fr. Anvers) , See also:capital of the above See also:province, an important See also:city on the right See also:bank of the See also:Scheldt, See also:Belgium's See also:chief centre of See also:commerce and a strong fortified position.
See also:Modern Antwerp is a finely laid out city with a See also:succession of broad avenues which See also:mark the position of the first See also:enceinte. There are See also:long streets and terraces of See also:fine houses belonging to the merchants and manufacturers of the city which amply testify to its prosperity, and recall the 16th See also:century distich that Antwerp was noted for its moneyed men (" Antwerpia nummis "). Despite the ravages of See also:war and See also:internal disturbances it still preserves some memorials of its See also:early grandeur, notably its fine See also:cathedral. This See also: A curious museum is the Maison See also:Plantin, the house of the See also:great printer C. Plantin (q.v.) and his successor Moretus, which stands exactly as it did in the See also:time of the latter. The new picture See also:gallery See also:close to the See also:southern quays is a fine building divided into See also:ancient and modern sections. The collection of old masters is very fine, containing many splendid examples of Rubens, See also:Van Dyck, See also:Titian and the chief Dutch masters. Antwerp, famous in the See also:middle ages and at the See also:present time for its commercial enter-prise, enjoyed in the 17th century a celebrity not less distinct or glorious in See also:art for its school of See also:painting, which included Rubens, Van Dyck, See also:Jordaens, the two See also:Teniers and many others. Commerce.—Since 1863, when Antwerp was opened to the See also:trade of the See also:outer See also:world by the See also:purchase of the Dutch right to See also:levy See also:toll, its position has completely changed, and no See also:place in Europe has made greater progress in this See also:period than the ancient city on the Scheldt. The following figures for the years 1904 and 1905 show that its trade is still rapidly increasing: Exports. Imports. See also:Year. See also:Tonnage. Value. Tonnage. Value. 1904 6,578,558 £71,349,678 8,427,894 £79,539,100 1905 7,153,655 £80,032,355 9,061,781 £91,194,517 The growth of its commerce in See also:recent times may be measured by a comparison of the following figures. In 1888, 4272 See also:ships entered the See also:port and 4302 sailed from it. In 1905, 6095 entered the port and 6o65 sailed from it—an increase of nearly 50 %. In 1888 the See also:total tonnage was 7,800,000; in 1905 it had risen to 19,662,000. These figures explain how and why Antwerp has outgrown its See also:dock See also:accommodation. The eight See also:principal basins or docks already existing in 1908 were (1) the Little or See also:Bonaparte dock; (2) the Great dock, also constructed in See also:Napoleon's time; (3) the Kattendijk, built in 186o and enlarged in 1881; (4) the See also:Wood dock; (5) the Campine dock, used especially for minerals; (6) the See also:Asia dock, which is in See also:direct communication with the See also:Meuse by a See also:canal as well as with the Scheldt; (7) the See also:Lefebvre dock; and (8) the See also:America dock, which was only opened in 1905. Two new docks, called " See also:intercalary " because they would See also:fit into whatever See also:scheme might be adopted for the rectification of the course of the Scheldt, were still to be constructed, leading out of the Lefebvre dock and covering 70 acres. With the completion of the new maritime See also:lock, ships See also:drawing 3n ft. of See also:water would be able to enter these new docks and also the Lefebvre and America docks. In connexion with the projected grande cou pure (that is, a cutting through the See also:neck ofthe See also:loop in the See also:river Scheldt immediately below Antwerp), the importance of these four docks would be greatly increased because they would then flank the new See also:main channel of the river. When the Belgian See also:Chambers voted in See also:February 1906 the sums necessary for the improvement of the See also:harbour of Antwerp no definite scheme was sanctioned, the question being referred to a See also:special mixed See also:commission. The improvements at Antwerp are not confined to the construction of new docks. The quays flanking the Scheldt are 32 M. in length. They are constructed of See also:granite, and no expense has been spared in equipping them with See also:hydraulic See also:cranes, warehouses, &c. Fortifications:—Besides being the chief commercial port of Belgium, Antwerp is the greatest fortress of that country. Nothing, however, remains of the former enceinte or even of the famous old citadel defended by See also:General See also:Chasse in 1832, except the See also:Steen, which has been restored and contains a museum of arms and antiquities. After the See also:establishment of Belgian See also:independence Antwerp was defended only by the citadel and an enceinte of about 22 M. See also:round the city. No See also:change occurred till 1859, when the See also:system of Belgian See also:defence was radically altered by the dismantlement of seventeen of the twenty-two fortresses constructed under See also:Wellington's supervision in 1815-1818. At Antwerp the old citadel and enceinte were removed. A new enceinte 8 m. in length was constructed, and the villages of See also:Berchem and Borgerhout, now parishes of Antwerp, were absorbed within the city. This enceinte still exists, and is a fine See also:work of art. It is protected by a broad wet ditch (plans in See also:article FORTIFICATION), and in the caponiers are the magazines and See also:store chambers of the fortress. The enceinte is pierced by nineteen openings or gateways, but of these seven are not used by the public. As soon as the enceinte was finished eight detached forts from 2 to 22 M. distant from the enceinte were constructed. They begin on the See also:north near Wyneghem and the See also:zone of inundation, and terminate on the See also:south at See also:Hoboken. In 1870 Fort Merxem and the redoubts of Berendrecht and Oorderen were built for the defence of the See also:area to be inundated north of Antwerp. In 1878, in consequence of the increased range of See also:artillery and the more destructive See also:power of See also:explosives, it was recognized that the fortifications of Antwerp were becoming useless and out of date. It was therefore decided to change it from a fortress to a fortified position by constructing an outer See also:line of forts and batteries at a distance varying from 6 to 9 M. from the enceinte. This second line was to consist of fifteen forts, large and small. Up to 1898 only five had been constructed,. but in that and the two following years five more were finished, leaving another five to See also:complete the line. A mixed commission selected the points at which they were to be placed. With the completion of this work, which in 1908 was being rapidly pushed on, Antwerp might be regarded as one of the best fortified positions in Europe, and so long as its communications by See also:sea are preserved intact it will be practically impregnable. Two subsidiary or See also:minor problems remained over. (1) The much-discussed removal of the existing enceinte in See also:order to give Antwerp further growing space. If it were removed there arose the further question, should a new enceinte be made at the first line of outer forts, or should an enceinte be dispensed with? An enceinte following the line of those forts would be 30 M. in length. Then if the city See also:grew up to this extended enceinte the outer forts would be too near. To See also:screen the city from See also:bombardment they would have to be carried 3 m. further out, and the whole Belgian See also:army would scarcely furnish an adequate See also:garrison for this extended position. A new enceinte, or more correctly a rampart of a less permanent See also:character, connecting the eight forts of the inner line and extending from Wyneghem to a little south of Hoboken, was decided upon in 1908. (2) The second problem was the position on the See also:left bank of the Scheldt. All the defences enumerated are on the right bank. On the left bank the two old forts Isabelle and See also:Marie alone defend the Scheldt. It is assumed (probably rightly) that no enemy could get round to this See also:side in sufficient strength to deliver any attack that the existing forts could not easily repel. The more interesting question connected with the left bank is whether it does not provide, as Napoleon thought, the most natural outlet for the expansion of Antwerp. Proposals to connect the two See also:banks by a See also:tunnel under the Scheldt have been made from time to time in a fitful manner, but nothing whatever had been done by 1908 to realize what appears to be a natural and easy project. See also:Population.—The following See also:statistics show the growth of population in and since the 19th century. In 28o0 the population was computed not to exceed 40,000. At the See also:census of 1846 the total was 88,487; of 185r, 95,501; of 188o, 169,100; of 'goo, 272,830; and of 1904, 291,949. To these figures ought to be added the populations (1904) of Borgerhout (43391) and Berchem (26,383), as they are part of the city, which would give Antwerp a total population of 361,723. See also:History.—The suggested origin of the name Antwerp from See also:Hand-wer See also:pen (hand-throwing), because a mythical robber chief indulged in the practice of cutting off his prisoners' hands and throwing them into the Scheldt, appeared to See also:Motley rather far-fetched, but it is less reasonable to trace it, as he inclines to do, from an t werf (on the See also:wharf), seeing that the See also:form Andhunerbo existed in the 6th century on the separation of See also:Austrasia and See also:Neustria. Moreover, hand-cutting was ' not an uncommon practice in Europe. It was perpetuated from a See also:savage past in the See also:custom of cutting off the right hand of a See also:man who died without See also:heir, and sending it as See also:proof of main-morte to the feudal See also:lord. Moreover, the two hands and a See also:castle, which form the arms of Antwerp, will not be dismissed as providing no proof by any one acquainted with the scrupulous care that heralds displayed in the See also:golden See also:age of See also:chivalry before assigning or recognizing the armorial See also:bearings of any claimant. In the 4th century Antwerp is mentioned as one of the places in the second See also:Germany, and in the rrth century See also:Godfrey of See also:Bouillon was for some years best known as See also:marquis of Antwerp. Antwerp was the headquarters of See also:Edward III. during his early negotiations with van See also:Artevelde, and his son Lionel, See also:earl of See also:Cambridge, was See also:born there in 1338. It was not, however, till after the closing of the Zwyn and the decay of See also:Bruges that Antwerp became of importance. At the end of the 15th century the See also:foreign trading See also:gilds or houses were transferred from Bruges to Antwerp, and the building assigned to the See also:English nation is specifically mentioned in 1510. In r 56o, a year which marked the highest point of its prosperity, six nations, viz. the Spaniards, the Danes and the Hansa together, the Italians, the English, the Portuguese and the Germans, were named at Antwerp, and over r000 foreign merchants were See also:resident in the city. See also:Guicciardini, the Venetian See also:envoy, describes the activity of the port, into which Soo ships sometimes passed in a See also:day, and as See also:evidence of the extent of its See also:land trade he mentioned that 2000 carts entered the city each See also:week. See also:Venice had fallen from its first place in See also: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 See also:half of the r 6th century See also:broke out in Antwerp as in every other part of Belgium excepting See also:Liege. In 1576 the See also:Spanish soldiery plundered the See also:town during what was called " the Spanish Fury," and 6000 citizens were massacred. Eight See also:hundred houses were burnt down, and over two millions See also:sterling of damage was wrought in the town on that occasion. In 1585 a severe See also:blow was struck at the prosperity of Antwerp when See also:Parma captured it after a long See also:siege and sent all its See also:Protestant citizens into See also:exile. The recognition of the independence of the See also:United Provinces by the treaty of See also:Munster in 1648 carried with it the See also:death-blow to Antwerp's prosperity as a place of trade, for one of its clauses stipulated that the Scheldt should be closed to See also:navigation. This impediment remained in force until 1863, although the provisions were relaxed during See also:French See also:rule from 1795 to 1814, and also during the time Belgium formed part of the See also:kingdom of the See also:Netherlands (1815 to 1830). Antwerp had reached the lowest point of its fortunes in 'Soo, and itspopulation had sunk under 40,000, when Napoleon, realizing its strategical importance, assigned two millions for the construction of two docks and a See also:mole. One other incident in the chequered history of Antwerp deserves mention. In 1830 the city was captured by the Belgian insurgents, but the citadel continued to be held by a Dutch garrison under General Chasse. For a time this officer subjected the town to a periodical bombardment which inflicted much damage, and at the end of 183z the citadel itself was besieged by a French army. During this attack the town was further injured. In See also:December 1832, after a gallant defence,Chasse made an See also:honourable surrender. See J. L. Motley's Rise of the Dutch See also:Republic; C. Scribanii, Origines Antwerpiensium; Gens, Hist. de la ville d'Anvers; Mertens and Torfs, Geschiedenis van Antwerp; Genard, Anvers a travers See also:les ages; Annuaire_statisque de la Belgique. (D. C. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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