Why go
Antwerp's harbour explains both its wartime vulnerability and its postwar expansion. The city also hosted the 1920 Olympics and developed an influential fashion scene late in the century, adding modern layers to a place often read only through its old centre.
The full story
Antwerp endured occupation in both world wars. In the First World War, Belgian forces fell back on the city before German troops captured it. In 1920 Antwerp hosted the Summer Olympics, a striking change of scene so soon after the conflict. The port made the city strategically important again in the Second World War. After liberation in 1944, German V-weapons struck Antwerp repeatedly as Allied forces used the harbour for supplies. The attacks damaged the city, while the port remained a vital route. Postwar planning enlarged and modernized the docks, extending industrial activity along the Scheldt. Antwerp's Jewish community, severely affected by the war, continued to form an important part of city life afterward. From the late twentieth century, fashion became another distinctive Antwerp identity. These developments are spread across the city rather than concentrated in one monument. The port landscape is the clearest starting point for understanding why modern Antwerp grew well beyond its medieval streets.