Puurs-Sint-Amands

Liezele is a village and deelgemeente (sub-municipality) of the municipality of Puurs-Sint-Amands in the province of Antwerp, Belgium. The village is located about 20 kilometres (12 mi) south-south-west of the city of Antwerp. On the night of 4 to 5 September 1914, the entire village was destroyed by the Belgian Army to deny the Germany Army cover.

The Flemish Diamond (Dutch: Vlaamse Ruit) is the Flemish reference to a network of four metropolitan areas in Belgium, three of which are in the central provinces of Flanders, together with the Brussels-Capital Region. It consists of four agglomerations which form the four corners of an abstract diamond shape: Brussels, Ghent, Antwerp and Leuven. In 2007, approximately 5 million people lived in this area, with a population density of about 820 per square kilometer which accounted for roughly 47% of the total population of the country (c. 10.5 million).

Puurs (Dutch pronunciation: [pyːrs]) is a former municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. It is located in the Flemish Region. The municipality comprised the towns of Breendonk, Liezele, Kalfort, Ruisbroek (old spelling: Ruysbroeck) and Puurs proper. There is also the hamlet of Kalfort. In 2021, Puurs had a total population of 17,684. The total area is 33.41 km2 (13 sq mi).Puurs sits about 5 meters above mean sea level. Its geography shows only minor elevation differences. Puurs is mainly rural, with some low intensity industry development in the North alongside the N16 expressway. However, because of its proximity to the cities of Antwerp and Brussels (both within a 25 km (16 mi) radius) and its excellent accessibility, Puurs is developing increasingly into a residential town. Effective 1 January 2019, Puurs and Sint-Amands were merged into the new municipality of Puurs-Sint-Amands.

Duvel Moortgat Brewery (Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat) is a Flemish family-controlled brewery founded in 1871 in the Antwerp Province (Belgium). Its strong golden pale ale, Duvel, is exported to more than forty countries. Duvel is Brabantian, Ghent and Antwerp dialect for devil, the standard Dutch word being duivel [ˈdœy̯vəl]. Other popular beers include Maredsous and Vedett.

Breendonk is a village in the municipality of Puurs-Sint-Amands in the province of Antwerp, Belgium, with a population 3,000, halfway between Brussels and Antwerp.

Ruisbroek is a village in the municipality of Puurs-Sint-Amands located in the Antwerp Province of Belgium. Ruisbroek was an independent municipality until 1977 was merged into Puurs. In 2019, Puurs itself was merged into Puurs-Sint-Amands.

Lippelo is a village in the Belgian province of Antwerp. It is a part of the municipality of Puurs-Sint-Amands. Lippelo has a population of 1,138 as of 2021.

D'Ursel Castle (Dutch: Kasteel van Hingene, also known as the Kasteel d'Ursel) used to be the private summer residence of the Duke of Ursel in Hingene in the municipality of Bornem, province of Antwerp, Belgium. Today it is property of the State, and opened to the public.

Fort Breendonk (Dutch: Fort van Breendonk, French: Fort de Breendonk) is a former military installation at Breendonk, near Mechelen, in Belgium which served as a Nazi prison camp (Auffanglager) during the German occupation of Belgium during World War II. Originally constructed between 1906 and 1913 as part of the second ring of the National Redoubt defending Antwerp, Fort Breendonk was used by the Belgian Army and was covered by a five-metre thick layer of soil for defense against artillery fire, a water-filled moat and measured 656 by 984 feet (200 by 300 m). It was used in both World War I and World War II by which time it had become militarily obsolete. Fort Breendonk was requisitioned by the Schutzstaffel (SS) shortly after the Belgian surrender on 28 May 1940 and used as a prison camp for the detention of political prisoners, resistance members, and Jews. Although technically a prison rather than a concentration camp, it became infamous for the poor living conditions in which the prisoners were housed and for the torture and executions which were carried out there. Most detainees were subsequently transferred to larger concentration camps in Eastern Europe. 3,590 prisoners are known to have been held at Fort Breendonk during the war of whom 303 died or were executed in the fort itself while 1,741 others subsequently died in other camps before the end of the war. In Belgian historical memory, Breendonk became symbolic of the barbarity of the German occupation. The camp was evacuated ahead of the Liberation of Belgium by the Western Allies in September 1944. It was briefly repurposed to detain Belgian collaborators. It was declared a "national memorial" in 1947 and has subsequently been open to the public as a museum. Many of the camp's personnel were subsequently tried for their wartime actions in Belgian courts.

Hingene is a village and deelgemeente (sub-municipality) of the municipality of Bornem in the province of Antwerp, Belgium. The village is bordered to the north by the Scheldt and to the east by the Rupel. It is located about 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) south-west of the city of Antwerp.