Berendrecht Lock

Berendrecht (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈbeːrə(n)drɛxt] ), Zandvliet (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈzɑntflit]) and Lillo (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈlɪloː]) are three towns along the seaport docks north of the old city of Antwerp in Flanders, Belgium. The substantial 1983 merger with former municipalities, led in 2000 to the decentralisation of this enlarged municipality of Antwerp while these three towns merged into one of the city's districts, called Berendrecht-Zandvliet-Lillo or Bezali.

Zandvliet (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈzɑntflit]) is a former Belgian town forming part of the Antwerp district of Berendrecht-Zandvliet-Lillo. The place dates back to 1135 when it was known as Santflit, meaning "a navigable passage through sand". In 1622 the Spaniard Ambrogio Spinola constructed a fortification with seven bastions around Zandvliet, to strengthen the defenses of Antwerp against the northern Netherlands. The project lasted six years and gave the town the appearance of a citadel. At the beginning of the 18th century France drove Spain from Zandvliet after which the fortress became derelict. Traces of the original fortress can be seen in the street layout of Conterscherp, Zuidvest and Begijnhoeve. The church in Zandvliet was destroyed during the wars against Spain, but was rebuilt in 1648 by the bishop of Saint Michael's Abbey in Antwerp. After Belgium gained its independence in 1830, J. Bril became the first Belgian mayor of Zandvliet. In 1887 a rail link between Antwerp and Bergen op Zoom also linked to Zandvliet. This line mainly transported sugar beet, but also catered for passengers. In 1958 Berendrecht, Zandvliet and Lillo were incorporated in Antwerp and the polder landscape largely expropriated for harbour development. Since the decentralisation of 2000 these three old communities were joined under the name of Bezali, an acronym used by the media. The people of Berendrecht-Zandvliet-Lillo on the other hand were proud of the original names and used them in the hope that they would not be forgotten. The name Zandvliet became a household name, thanks to the 1967 naming of Zandvlietsluis, one of the largest sea locks in the world.

The Doel Nuclear Power Station is one of two nuclear power plants in Belgium. The plant includes four reactors. The site is located on the bank of the Scheldt river, near the village of Doel in the Flemish province of East Flanders, on the outskirts of the city of Antwerp. The station is operated and majority-owned by vertically-integrated French energy corporation Engie SA through its 100%-owned Belgian subsidiary Electrabel. EDF Luminus has a 10.2% stake in the two newest units. The Doel plant employs 963 workers and covers an area of 80 hectares (200 acres). The plant represents about 15% of Belgium's total electricity production capacity and 30% of the total electricity generation. Nuclear energy typically provides half of Belgium's domestically-generated electricity and is the country's lowest-cost source of power.The station is located in the most densely populated area for any nuclear power station in Europe as of 2011, with 9 million inhabitants within a radius of 75 kilometres (47 mi).

Berendrecht (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈbeːrə(n)drɛxt] ) is a neighbourhood and former village in Antwerp province in Belgium. Its name means "dike of the bear", according to the area's dialect, or "dike of a man called Bear", or "passage by the marsh". But drecht or tricht means "ferry" or "crossing" (from Latin trajectus), and ber or bere in Indo-European means "dam", "defence against water" (compare Slavic East Germany): the resulting meaning is "river crossing at a dam". The Berendrecht Lock is the world's largest lock, giving entrance to the Port of Antwerp.

Doel is a subdivision of the municipality of Beveren in the Flemish province of East Flanders in Belgium. It is located near the river the Scheldt, in a polder of the Waasland. Since 1965, there have been plans to extend the Port of Antwerp into Doel and demolish the village. However, protests have caused a stalemate. On 30 March 2022, a deal was reached and the village is allowed to exist.

Fort Lillo is a former military fort built as part of the Antwerp Defence Line on the right bank of the Schelde, and completely surrounded by the industrial port of Antwerp.

The Ieper Group (Dutch: Ieper Groep; French: Groupe d'Ypres) is a group of rock strata in the subsurface of northwest Belgium. The group is subdivided into three marine formations, all formed during the Ypresian, a single age of the geologic timescale (55.8 to 48.6 million years ago, the oldest age of the Eocene epoch). Both age and group are named after the West Flemish town of Ypres, for which the Dutch name is "Ieper".

The Battle of Kallo was a major field battle fought from 20 to 21 June 1638 in and around the forts of Kallo and Verrebroek, located on the left bank of the Scheldt river, near Antwerp, during the second phase of the Eighty Years' War. Following the symbolic recovery of Breda during the 1637 campaign, the Dutch Republic agreed with the French Crown, with whom it had allied in 1635, to besiege a major city in the Spanish Netherlands during the 1638 campaign. The commander of the Dutch States Army, Frederick Henry of Orange, planned an approach over Antwerp from the two sides of the Scheldt. Count William of Nassau-Siegen was entrusted to land in the Spanish-controlled Waasland region, west of Antwerp, to seize the forts of Kallo and Verrebroek, along with several other key fortifications, to invest Antwerp from the west. In the meantime, Frederick Henry would advance on the opposite bank to complete the blockade of the city while the armies of France invaded the Spanish Netherlands from the south to oblige the Spanish Army of Flanders to divide its forces. The Dutch operation proceeded well at first, since the force under Nassau-Siegen easily captured Kallo and Verrebroek. However, it was unable to gain further progress, so the count entrenched his troops and asked for reinforcements. The governor of the Catholic Netherlands, the cardinal-infante Ferdinand, younger brother to Philip IV of Spain and victor of the Battle of Nördlingen, with an army consisting of tercios and other troops from several garrison duties, launched a counter-attack over the Dutch positions the night of 20–21 June. Advancing along three narrow fronts, the Spanish forces drove the States' soldiers from a series of outer works, but were unable to dislodge them from the two main forts. However, exhaustion and lack of supplies and reinforcements led Nassau-Siegen to order the re-embarkation during the next night. Ferdinand launched a second assault while the retreat was ongoing, and, as panic ensued among the Dutch ranks, the entire force was defeated. The Dutch commander escaped with a few hundred men, while many other drowned attempting to save themselves or were captured. Along with the successful defense of Saint-Omer and Geldern that same year, the victory of Kallo proved that the Spanish tercios were still a formidable field force. Additionally, it was interpreted in terms of Catholic propaganda and became subject of paintings, poems and popular songs.

The Liefkenshoektunnel is a toll tunnel between Antwerp and Beveren under the River Schelde. The tunnel is a continuation of Highway R2, the ring motorway surrounding the city and harbour of Antwerp. In 2013 the tunnel was used by 6,373,894 vehicles. Positioned between the Beverentunnel and the Tijsmanstunnel, the Liefkenshoektunnel is the second of three sequential road tunnels running under the river and port installations. The tunnel takes its name from nearby Fort Liefkenshoek. It was constructed between 1987 and 1991, and opened on 10 July 1991.

Ossendrecht is a village in the Dutch province of North Brabant. It is located in the municipality of Woensdrecht, about 12 km southeast of Bergen op Zoom. The village was first mentioned in 1187 as "Alardus de Ossendreht", and is a combination of ferry / waterway and ox. Ossendrecht developed around a triangular village square.During the 19th century, Ossendrecht became a centre of cichorium cultivation and processing. Ossendrecht was home to 214 people in 1840. Ossendrecht was a separate municipality until 1997, when it became part of Woensdrecht.

The Fort of Stabroek dates from 1902. It is one of a ring of forts surrounding Antwerp, built after the city had been identified as Belgium's National redoubt (final stronghold) to which the army and government could retreat and await allied intervention in the event of military attack from abroad. It is constructed of reinforced concrete with a trapezoidal footprint, and surrounded by a moat, which here forms a part of the Antitank canal constructed between 1937 and 1939. Together with the Fort of Sint-Katelijne-Waver (to the south of the city) the Fort of Stabroek was one of the first two "armoured forts" in Antwerp, intended to withstand shells of up to 22 cm. Construction, mandated in 1900, progressed only with delays, starting in 1902. The fort was completed in 1907 or 1908. However, it never received the heavy artillery pieces which had been intended for it, and by the time war did break out, in 1914, attack came not from France but from Germany, and the Germans were using artillery shells of 30.5 cm or, in the case of the so-called Big Bertha guns, of 42 cm. Before construction could start, 9 people had to be dispossessed of land, but the overall impact of the construction project was nevertheless overwhelmingly positive. Many Wallonian guest workers were brought in from Geldenaken, providing welcome additional income for caterers and other local businesses. During excavations in preparation for the construction three former river channels were identified, which were featured in a series of articles produced by Georges Hasse on the history of the rivers in the northern part of the province. Stabroek is a "second order" fort incorporating two semi-detached caponiers. Because these are not directly beside the main part of the fort, the linking trenches are protected with two little supplementary 5.7 cm gun turrets. All together there were one turret for two 15 cm guns, two each for a 12 cm Howitzers and four for 7.5 cm guns. The outbreak of the First World War involved a German invasion of Belgium, and two months later the German army began to besiege Antwerp. The intense fighting mostly took place on the south and eastern side of the city, and it is evident that the National redoubt of fortresses surrounding Antwerp held up the German invasion. Nevertheless, on 7 October 1914 the king gave orders to evacuate the Fort of Stabroek, and the fighting moved on towards the coast in the west. Just over a quarter century later Belgium faced another overwhelming German invasion, following the outbreak of the Second World War. Defensive preparations during the late 1930s had included the creation of an Antitank canal round Antwerp, of which the moat round the Fort of Stabroek formed a part. In the event, however, May 1940 marked the start of another four years of German military occupation. A couple of years after the war ended, formally in May 1945, on 2 April 1947 the Fort of Stabroek formally lost its military status, less than half a century after its construction. In 1955 it was sold to a dentist from Beveren called Albert Callens. The structure was initially used as a private country retreat, and later for growing mushrooms. The moat was used for recreational purposes such as fishing and swimming. The basic fabric remains sound, and following recent upgrades the Fort of Stabroek, now run by the dentist's grandson, offers recreational activities that include fort climbing and paint balling.

The Organ collection Ghysels is a museum collection of mechanical dance and fairground organs. Since 2010 it is exhibited at the Kijk- en Luisterdepot (Watch and Listen Depot) in Kallo in Beveren, Belgium. It was brought together by Jef Ghysels from Schaerbeek. Great part of the organs operated before the First World War.The collection consists of four large historical organs and twelve smaller ones, a number of organ statues, books and documentation material. The oldest organ is L'Hermione from Genoa that dates from 1895. The youngest piece is the Brusilia; commissioned by Ghysels it was built in 1976. The organs in the collection were operated at parties, dance events, year fairs, and on the streets.The collection was bought by the Flemish Community in 2007. The first exhibition was held from October 2008 to March 2009 in the Art & History Museum in Brussels, where the ball room Continental Superstar was specially created.In 2010 it was transferred to the Kijk en Luisterdepot (Watch and Listen Depot) in Kallo, near to Antwerp. Here the instruments are stored under acclimatised conditions at Katoen Natie. Guided tours are given here in which is clarified the history of dance and fair culture at the beginning of the 20th century.In 2013 the collection was allocated to Museum Vleeshuis. The collection still remains in Kallo until Vleeshuis has been renovated.