Antwerp is famed for its medieval Grote Markt. Towering over it is the mid-15th century cathedral. The small but vibrant city has Golden Age artistic glories aplenty – Pieter Paul Rubens and Jan van Eyck are just two former renowned residents. It is also known for its exceptional cultural scene – the reopened Royal Museum of Fine Arts is just the cherry on top – as well as cutting edge bars, restaurants and architecture.
In the north, along the River Scheldt, is one of Europe’s busiest ports (and major entry point for cocaine), its vast modern docks stretching several kilometers. Its historic old docks are now home to museums, bars and restaurants (you get a reminder of its past walking through the red light distrcíct to get there). These buzzing areas lure visitors to the city, but in the south there is another Antwerp to discover.
Hemmed in and sliced up by railway lines and a ring road built when Antwerp’s defensive walls were destroyed, Berchem offers a slice of Antwerp life that is mostly unaffected by tourism. It’s an unusual area: a rapidly gentrifying working class district centred around the De Koninck brewery, it merges with grand avenues of art nouveau houses, the Den Brandt Castle and park, and Middelheim Museum.
We’ve visited the Middelheim Museum – an extraordinary open air sculpture park – a few times before. It’s so good that repeat visits are worth making. Plus, 2025 marks the 75th anniversary of the “place where art and nature go hand in hand,” which warranted another visit. We decided to walk through the sculpture park and the adjoining grounds of Castle Den Brandt, before heading into the streets of Berchem.
Middelheim is a large area to cover and although we’ve been before we saw a few new sculptures this time, either because we’d missed them previously or they have been put on display recently. It never disappoints, and the red and yellow of autumnal tree leaves only added to the pleasure. In medieval Antwerp, wealthy merchants had their summer houses here in what was then countryside.
Neighbouring Castle Den Brandt dates from the same period, the first written record of the name came in the 14th century. The current castle dates to the 18th century, and the landscaped grounds are fabulous for strolling. They also contain some interesting sculptures, including Three Dancing Maidens by German artist, Walter Schott, and a giant copy of Michelangelo’s David.
We’d clocked up a few kilometers walking the adjoining parks, so decided it was time for a bite to eat in the urban areas of Berchem. The streets here are calm and pleasant to stroll, made more so by the Groen Kwartier, where the old military hospital and nearby warehouses have been converted into a public space with restaurants, bars and a high end hotel.
Berchem has definitely moved on from its traditional working class roots to be bohemian chic, and that includes one of the major employers in the district over the last 200 years, Brouwerij De Koninck. Their signature beer is generally known as ‘bolleke’, but is really called De Koninck. Bolleke is the name of the glass in which the beer is served. Today, the brewery has an interactive tour as well as shops, bars and restaurants.
An interesting fact for anyone enjoying a beer at the brewery, King Albert Park just over the road was once the site of the city gallows, where murderers and other criminals were hanged. It’s hard to imagine today, as are two other notable incidents from Berchem’s history. Fighting here between Belgian rebels and the Dutch army in 1830 led to Antwerp being liberated, opening the way for Belgium independence.
In 1932, a more bizarre story unfolded. The Circus Sarrasani, Europe’s largest traveling circus, was in Berchem. On January 14th, a fire engulfed the circus resulting in the deaths of many circus animals, including 15 elephants. On a humorous note, quite a few animals escaped captivity, including two lions that made their escape to then terrify the populace of Berchem, who had so recently amused themselves watching them perform.
