The Boelwerf , initially called J. Boel & Zonen , was a shipyard on the river Scheldt in Temse , Belgium , which produced ships from 1829 until 1994.
27-461: The Boelwerf was founded in 1829 by Bernard Boel (1798–1872), who had worked as a carpenter at the Antwerpen South shipyards. He was succeeded by his son Jozef Boel. During the first fifty years of its existence, the shipyard built wooden ships and employed a limited number of workers. The company built only one ship a year, mainly tjalks . Starting from 1900, the number of ships built, and with it
54-488: A 30 ha (80 acre) residential area. When construction will be finished, the area will host about 200 houses and 750 flats. In 2010, the municipal administration was concentrated in Administratief Centrum De Zaat , the former Boelwerf headquarters. 51°7′8″N 4°12′7″E / 51.11889°N 4.20194°E / 51.11889; 4.20194 Zuid (Antwerp) The Zuid (Dutch for "South")
81-437: A cinema, and a specialized library. The architect responsible was Michel Grandsard. He also designed the museum's new wing (1997). Since 1992, the director of the museum has been Bart de Baere. This museum has a historical and contemporary collection of photography that is given a new presentation every year. Alongside the collection are frequently changing photography exhibitions, film projections, and lectures. It also publishes
108-538: A district noted only for its residual charm. Ultimately, the inherent appeal of the neighbourhood, along with a shift in attitudes towards city living, contributed to a revival in the area's prospects. There was a resurgence of interest in the Zuid after the International Rubens Year in 1977, which attracted numerous visitors to South Antwerp . The building dates from 1890 and was constructed specifically to house
135-642: A lot of trouble cleaning up the mess. On 12 October 2004, the Boelwerf Vlaanderen board members were convicted of fraud with European education funds. In recent years, the former industrial estate, measuring almost 87 ha (215 acres), has been turned into an extension of Temse's town centre. In 1998, the grounds were bought by the development association Nieuw Temse nv , consisting of construction contractor Cordeel from Temse, earthworks contractor Grondwerken Aertssen from Stabroek, and ING Real Estate . Development plans include an industrial area for SMEs and
162-658: A magazine " FMM " in Dutch that presents articles on photography with a particular emphasis on fine art photography. The museum opened in 2004. Several of the area's squares have public monuments. These include a statue on the Marnixplaats, a fountain on the Lambermontplaats , and a statue on the Baron Dhanislei. Of more general interest, however, is the "Waterpoort" (Water Gate), based on a design by Rubens , and which stands on
189-471: A sought-after residential area up until the Second World War. Throughout the conflict, the neighbourhood experienced significant damage due to V bomb attacks, with the initial bomb impacting Antwerp , striking at the intersection of Schildersstraat and Leopold De Waelplaats. Following the war, the area entered a prolonged period of decline. Contributing factors to this downturn included suburbanization,
216-523: Is a southern neighborhood in the city center of Antwerp , abutting the Scheldt River . The Zuid had a revival in the mid-1980s and is now composed of buildings in the Art Nouveau and Modern architecture styles. Zuid contains numerous cafés, restaurants and shops, as well as three museums, two art centres, and many commercial art galleries. The neighbourhood of Zuid, or Antwerp South, emerged following
243-611: The Belgian Revolution of 1830, Dutch forces remained in control of the citadel until the Siege of Antwerp (1832) . Demolition began in 1874 and was completed in 1881. The site became a new neighbourhood of the city, Zuid , in which the most prominent construction was the new building for the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp . In Spanish the title of the governor of the citadel was Castellano de Amberes ("Castellan of Antwerp"). In
270-612: The Duke of Alva . Initial construction was completed in 1572. After the Sack of Antwerp (1576) the citizens partially demolished the fortification, but it was reconstructed after the Fall of Antwerp (1585). The citadel saw action towards the end of the Napoleonic Wars , when it was defended by determined Bonapartists. The Siege of Antwerp (1814) continued for a month after Napoleon's abdication. After
297-610: The Richard Rogers Partnership in association with VKStudio and Ove Arup & Partners , opened in 2007. The presence of this new complex has encouraged lawyers, and various support services to seek premises nearby. Finally, a number of IT start-ups have been attracted by the area's fashionable image in recent years. Whether the trading atmosphere will prove to be congenial in the longer term remains to be seen. Antwerp Citadel Antwerp Citadel ( Spanish : Castillo de Amberes , Dutch : Kasteel van Antwerpen )
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#1732845029755324-552: The Almabo holding and its gas carrier division Exmar , were sliced off, leaving only the actual shipyard, now called Boelwerf . After Cockerill Yards , a shipyard in Hoboken , across the river Scheldt, had gone bankrupt, the Boelwerf acquired Cockerill's shipyard. Following this merger, the company employed 3,500 workers in two large shipyards. Due to the international crisis in ship building,
351-407: The Boelwerf got into financial straits in the mid-1980s and was declared bankrupt on 28 October 1992. The court-appointed receiver, Christian Van Buggenhout, filed a complaint for fraud, which he withdrew consequently. From the mid-1980s until the beginning of the 1990s, the shipyard had been kept afloat by the government, which had offered large shipping loans to the shipyard's potential clients. After
378-618: The Sint-Gillisplaats. On 6 July 2012, a new statue of William of Orange (William the Silent) and Marnix of Sint-Aldegondis was inaugurated in the gardens of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts. The statue is surrounded by a number of stelae commemorating key conflicts leading to the Thirty Years' War . The monument stands on or close to what was once the stronghold defended by both men against
405-464: The Spanish aggressors. In 1987 the theatre company " De Internationale Nieuwe Scene " moved into the derelict "Zuiderpershuis". Since then, this former hydraulic power station has become an important centre for the arts. As its name might suggest, De Monty was formerly a local cinema and parish hall. It is now a venue for numerous travelling companies and groups of all kinds. Raamtheater shared part of
432-498: The approval of the street plan, the excavation of the Zuiderdokken (Southern Docks) commenced. Over the subsequent 25 years, the area saw significant development, with the majority of its key public buildings reaching completion in the last decade of the 19th century. Historic events in the area include: The designation "Petit Paris", along with its well-regarded street layout, monuments, and cultural sites, made "het Zuid" or "Le Midi"
459-449: The bankruptcy, most of these loans were either remitted or lost. After several strikes and a union occupation, the company was restarted in 1993 under the ownership of the Flemish government holding Gimvindus . The company changed its name to Boelwerf Vlaanderen . This company finished the last seven orders and was declared bankrupt on 30 November 1994. Again, the receiver, Jozef Dauwe, had
486-526: The city's growing collection of art. The collection includes many Dutch and Belgian masterpieces from the 15th century onwards, by artists such as Jan van Eyck , Rogier van der Weyden , Rembrandt , and Rubens as well as several works by Ensor , Magritte , and Delvaux . This is the contemporary art museum of the city and one of the largest of its kind in Belgium . The museum holds a permanent collection of contemporary art by Belgian and international artists,
513-568: The corner of Schildersstraat and Plaatsnijdersstraat, which is now recognized as a protected monument. In 1968 and 1969, the Southern Docks were filled in and repurposed as a parking area. The construction of a new building for the Court of Appeals on the former entrance to these docks, along with the demolition of the Hippodrome in 1972, further diminished the prominence of "het Zuid," relegating it to
540-525: The dismantling of the Antwerp Citadel , colloquially known as the Zuidkasteel. The fort was originally constructed by the Spanish, and the demolition process began in 1874. The layout of the streets was officially approved through a Royal Decree in 1875. The design of the neighbourhood is believed to have been influenced by Georges-Eugène Haussmann , earning it the moniker "Le Petit Paris". Concurrently with
567-473: The downturn of the Southern Docks, and the shutdown and subsequent demolition in 1965 of the South Station. The affordability of the area made it appealing to immigrants and individuals in search of a bohemian lifestyle. This economic accessibility enabled Anny De Decker to establish the " Wide White Space Gallery " (1966–1976) on the ground floor of Het Bootje, an architecturally diverse building situated at
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#1732845029755594-411: The housing stock and agreeable street plan, an important factor in reestablishing the elan of the neighborhood has been the availability of land for development. This has come from the demolition or conversion of industrial and semi-industrial buildings, the abandonment and/or redevelopment of buildings such as the former Hippodrome, and the demolition of the South Station. The derelict marshalling yards on
621-535: The large complex of buildings occupied by the Hoger Instituut van Vertalers en Tolken, the language department of Hogeschool Antwerpen, now Artesia. Once the Southern Docks fell into disuse the attraction of the area as a location for industrial and semi-industrial activities declined. This, combined with strict zoning laws, resulted in virtually all the small workshops and warehousing operations having to shut down or relocate. Apart from existing attractions such as
648-484: The number of employees, grew steadily. After World War II , J. Boel & Zonen flourished after breaking through internationally. At the company's 150th birthday, the Zaat , as the shipyard was known in the local dialect, counted 3,000 employees. A considerable part of them were locals from Temse. The anniversary coincided with the construction of the 57,000 m (2,000,000 cu ft) LPG carrier Petrogas II , given
675-415: The southern edge of the neighborhood are being developed into a sustainable development called Circulair Zuid including 2,200 homes between 2018 and 2030. At present the area is served by a single supermarket on the ground floor of the redeveloped Hippodrome site. A recent development is the new Palace of Justice law courts complex on the former South Station site. This award-winning project, designed by
702-475: The symbolic construction number 1500. During the same period, the Boelwerf's trade union delegation became a model of strijdsyndicalisme ("battle unionism") in Belgium. The leaders of this delegation, Jan Cap ( ACV ) and Karel Heirbaut ( ABVV ) often got national attention for their actions. On 19 December 1980, J. Boel & Zonen underwent a series of demergers. Several holding and shipping companies, such as
729-558: Was a pentagonal bastion fort built to defend and dominate the city of Antwerp in the early stages of the Dutch Revolt . It has been described as "doubtlesse the most matchlesse piece of modern Fortification in the World" and as "one of the most studied urban installations of the sixteenth century". The citadel was designed by the Italian engineer Francesco Paciotto and built on the orders of
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