Ekeren

Ekeren in Antwerp

Ekeren is a northern district of the municipality and city of Antwerp in the Flemish Region of Belgium. The suburb celebrated its 850th birthday in 2005; the name of the town was first mentioned in 1155, as "Hecerna".

Although Ekeren is a suburb of Antwerp, it used to be a distinct municipality with its own town hall, mayor, and city council. When Belgian local governments were reorganized in 1983, most of Ekeren and other municipalities were made part of the city of Antwerp. For a municipality of this enlarged size, the "local" government might easily have gotten out of touch with specific problems and needs in its farther localities. As a new law provided, in 2000 the city council initiated additional district councils with responsibilities including sports, culture, youth and elderly people. Since this decentralization, the municipality consists of nine districts (the old city, seven former municipalities at its borders, and the Bezali merger of three towns). The first district council of Ekeren, elected in 2001, was led by Christophe Thomas. The district council gathers in the 16th century-era Hof van Veltwijck, which had seen major restructuring works around 2000; this complex also houses local administrative offices.

Ekeren used to be the home town of the Germinal Ekeren football team until Germinal merged with K. Beerschot V.A.C. into K.F.C. Germinal Beerschot (in 1999). The new club is based in the Olympisch Stadion in Antwerp.

Ekeren is home to the Jozef Pauly municipal academy for music and word, which has around 2000 pupils as of 2004 (also counting branches in some other districts of the city of Antwerp, and one in the nearby municipality of Kapellen). The academy hosts many musical ensembles; the Jozef Pauly flute ensemble has made concert tours to Australia and the United States. It should be noted that municipal music academies in Belgium are distinct from the public educational system; attending these academies is entirely optional, and merely a hobby for most of the students.

The 1 square kilometre large domain of the Oude Landen is a unique and extremely diverse piece of nature situated near the border with the Antwerp city district. Since it was a military area until 1972 (but not often used as such) where trespassing was strictly forbidden, nature was allowed to have its way for decades; the area now contains a rich mixture of plants and animals in eight more or less separate mini-ecosystems.

In 1703, Ekeren was the site of a battle in the War of the Spanish Succession, known as the Battle of Ekeren. Some street names in Ekeren (for example, the "Successiestraat", "Vierkerkenstraat", and "Tweekronenstraat") still refer to this occurring.

Famous residents

• Vlaams Belang-politician Filip Dewinter

Jezus christus

External links

• official website of the district of Ekeren (in Dutch)
• website for the municipal academy for music and word (in Dutch)

51°17′N 4°25′E