Breendonk
Encyclopedia
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, population 3,000, halfway between Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
and Antwerp.
Its name stems from the medieval Bredene Dunc which translates as "wide mound" or "a dry spot in the marshes."
In the 19th century it was known for its beautiful Neo-Gothic church and the lavish mansion of the Earl de Buisseret. Both were destroyed by the Belgian army at the start of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
because they obstructed the gunner's view from the local fortifications.
From the 20th century on it was best known for its fortification
Fort Breendonk
Fort Breendonk is a fortification built in 1906 as part of the second ring of defences around the city of Antwerp . Originally one in a chain of fortresses constructed to defend Belgium against a German attack, Breendonk was near the town of the same name, about 12 miles southwest of Antwerp...
, built in 1909. It was judged that Antwerp, being continental Europe's second most important port
Port of Antwerp
The port of Antwerp, in Belgium, is a port in the heart of Europe accessible to capesize ships. Antwerp stands at the upper end of the tidal estuary of the Scheldt. The estuary is navigable by ships of more than 100,000 Gross Tons as far as 80 km inland. The inland location means that the port...
, needed two circles of fortifications for its defence. Breendonk's fortification was part of the outer defensive ring. These fortifications were built on the same site previously occupied by Roman fortifications, this site having been selected because it was the only source of clean water in what until the 18th century was swampland. The modern fortifications fell to the Germans after only a seven day siege.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the fort was briefly used as the General Headquarters of King Leopold III
Leopold III of Belgium
Leopold III reigned as King of the Belgians from 1934 until 1951, when he abdicated in favour of the Heir Apparent,...
, leading the Belgian armed forces. After his surrender to the Germans it was transformed into a concentration camp
Fort Breendonk
Fort Breendonk is a fortification built in 1906 as part of the second ring of defences around the city of Antwerp . Originally one in a chain of fortresses constructed to defend Belgium against a German attack, Breendonk was near the town of the same name, about 12 miles southwest of Antwerp...
by the Nazis
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
(primarily as a transit camp for transport to Auschwitz). It gained a grim reputation as a place of torture and interrogation of a wide variety of prisoners. Amongst those to be incarcerated (about 3500 in total, 1733 didn't survive the war) there were the linguist Herman Liebaers
Herman Liebaers
Herman Liebaers was a Belgian linguist. He was director general of the central Belgian Royal Library and Marshal of the Royal Household of the Royal Court of Belgium....
, fencer Jacques Ochs
Jacques Ochs
Jacques Ochs , was a Jewish Belgian artist and épée and foil fencer.-Early years, and art study:Ochs was Jewish, and was born in Nice, France. His family moved to Liège, Belgium, in 1893. Ochs studied art there at the Royal Academy of Art in Liège, graduating 1903. He won the Donnay Prize that year...
, Communist Party of Belgium
Communist Party of Belgium
Communist Party of Belgium was a political party in Belgium. The youth wing of KPB/PCB was known as the Communist Youth of Belgium. The party published Le Drapeau Rouge in French and De Roode Vaan in Dutch.- History :It was formed at a congress in Anderlecht on September 3-4 1921...
politician Bert Van Hoorick
Bert Van Hoorick
Bert Van Hoorick was a Belgian politician and writer. He was a member of the Belgian parliament from 1946 up to 1949 and from 1958 until 1976....
and anti-Nazi fascist
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
Paul Hoornaert
Paul Hoornaert
Paul Hoornaert was a Belgian far right political activist. Although a pioneer of fascism in the country he was an opponent of Nazism and died in a Nazi concentration camp....
. About 300 persons were killed in the camp, at least 98 people died from deprivation or torture.
The fort is now home to the "Breendonk Fort National Memorial" which provides a historical record of the Nazi terror in Belgium. This museum is referenced for its historical significance in a W. G. Sebald
W. G. Sebald
W. G. Maximilian Sebald was a German writer and academic. At the time of his death at the age of 57, he was being cited by many literary critics as one of the greatest living authors and had been tipped as a possible future winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature...
novel titled Austerlitz
Austerlitz (novel)
Austerlitz is the final novel of W. G. Sebald, published in 2001. The book received the National Book Critics Circle Award.-Plot summary:...
.
Breendonk is now most famous for its brewery where the Belgian blond beer
Belgian beer
Beer in Belgium varies from pale lager to lambic beer and Flemish red. There are approximately 178 breweries in the country, ranging from international giants to microbreweries..-History:...
Duvel
Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat
Duvel Moortgat Brewery is a Flemish family-controlled brewery founded in 1871. Its strong golden pale ale, Duvel, is the company's best known product which is exported to more than 40 countries...
(meaning "Devil" in the local South Brabantian
Brabantian
Brabantian or Brabantish, also Brabantic , is a dialect group of the Dutch language. It is named after the historical Duchy of Brabant which corresponded mainly to the Dutch province of North Brabant, the Belgian provinces of Antwerp and Flemish Brabant, as well as the institutional Region of...
dialect of Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
), is brewed. The brewery reputedly uses the same spring once used by the Romans and the World War I fortifications, but this needs confirmation.
The village of Breendonk was merged in 1977 into the commune of Puurs
Puurs
Puurs is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. It is located in the Flemish Region. The municipality comprises the towns of Breendonk, Liezele, Kalfort, Ruisbroek and Puurs proper. On January 1, 2006 Puurs had a total population of 16,029...
, while the fort and surrounding area east of the A12 road (leading from Antwerp to Brussels) became part of the commune of Willebroek
Willebroek
Willebroek is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the towns of Blaasveld, Heindonk, Tisselt, Klein Willebroek and Willebroek proper. On January 1, 2006 Willebroek had a total population of 23,044...
.