Het Steen Castle & The Antwerp Story

Our visit takes us to the centuries old Het Steen castle, a medieval fortress in the old city centre of Antwerp. Built after the Viking invasions in the early Middle Ages as the first stone fortress, Het Steen is Antwerp’s oldest building and used to be its oldest urban centre. A visit here on your first trip to Antwerp creates the perfect introduction to the city, so why not join us as we explore and experience the Antwerp Story.

Het Steen gained its current name in around 1520, after significant rebuilding under the holy roman emperor Charles V. The Dutch word “Steen” means “stone”, and is used for “fortress” or “castle”. The fortress made it possible to control the access to the Scheldt, the river on whose bank it stands. As the oldest preserved building in the city, Het Steen has fulfilled numerous functions over the centuries, from a castle to a prison and from a residence to a museum. After undergoing a thorough renovation, the building is now an eye-catching Visitor Centre brimming with tourist information. A fairy tale like location and we think the perfect place to start your visit to Antwerp.

In the first centuries after its construction Het Steen was used to control the vessels on the River Scheldt. Then in 1303 Het Steen Castle enters a long and dark period of history, when used as a prison. As such, the palace served until 1827. For this significant period of time the castle becomes an arena of hundreds, perhaps thousands of brutal killings and torture. Richer prisoners were locked in the right wing and the poor – on the left. But all of them fall victim to unbelievable torture – cutting of hands, feet, heads, burning, etc. The cross above the entrance still marks the spot where convicts said their final prayers on their way to execution.

After briefly being in private hands five years later, the city repurchased the building in 1842. Towards the end of the 19th century, the Scheldt River was widened near Het Steen, and the quays were rebuilt. Several parts of the castle fell victim to this massive construction site. Fortunately, some sections of the historical building have been preserved and have since been given the simple name “Het Steen.” Since 2021 as you enter inside you’ll find a visitor centre providing plenty of tourist information, a quaint relaxation area and of course the interesting exhibition that tells the history of the city and it’s building.

The interactive exhibition takes you through 11 rooms of endless inspiration on the city of Antwerp, It really pieces together everything that makes the city unique, in each room you get a different part of the story and you can follow a trail through the rooms and learn about the identity and history of the city. The first room was so interesting, seeing a bird’s eye view of the whole of the city with a 360 degree projection, it’s very mesmerizing seeing the scale of the city.

Then the room that followed showcased some information and films about the city’s museums, it is also the room where they have an original fireplace with some of the finest carvings to be seen. After having a look out at the surroundings, there is an interactive display that tells you about the importance of the castle and it’s strategic importance to the location it sits on. In the sixth century, the city was the international trading centre and this was all with thanks to the river that brought the world into the city. The museum hosts a room with all of the important buildings of the city and their significance, you can sit and enjoy the displays and just enjoy a tour of your own pace.

Up the stairs, you’ll be able to enter another exhibition, this room tells the story of innovation, one of these interactive videos gives you a short introduction to the local brewery and beers that are available throughout the city and beyond in Belgium. The other part of this room focuses on fashion, one of the things you’ll see lets us enjoy a holographic exhibition on fashion in Antwerp, the vision is super clever and so fun to see. The history with fashion and Antwerp is with thanks to the famous Antwerp Six.

It’s purely fashion folklore, but in 1987 a gang of Belgian designers packed their belongings into a van and headed to Europe with a dream of exhibiting at a London trade show. Their appearance was the one that sparked a renaissance in the Avant Garde fashion movement, showcasing each designer and their trademark style into international recognition which left a mark on fashion history as we know it. At the time in the 1980s, the fresh faced graduates created collections and work that was so unconventional and outstanding that it re shaped Antwerp into a creditable destination within the fashion realm.

There seems to be so many display boards with so much information that you can soak in, the next room and other buildings focus on the port, which of course was the lifeline for the city. Antwerp is home to Europe’s second largest port, inside the port people and technology, logistics and innovation go purely hand in hand. Container ships would sail up the river bringing in a variety of goods such as bananas or steel. Interestingly the port stores more coffee beans at any one time than anywhere else in the world; roughly someone has worked out that that’s enough for 27 billion cups of coffee.

The views here are just wonderful, you can take a seat and enjoy the surroundings or you can wander up the stairs towards the panorama deck to enjoy the city all around. What I enjoyed was watching the ferries come in and go the backdrop of the cathedral and the other historical buildings really paint a beautiful picture. Taking 5 minutes to just enjoy the view, people watch and look out over the river was a perfect way to start finishing up the explore here.

One of the final rooms inside the exhibition is known as the tapestry room. When you first enter it looks quite hectic but inside hangs six large tapestries that show off the iconic stories of Antwerp. A local artist Mixed in a experience of historical moments and people and mythological situations that the city has told. You’ll notice athletes, Belgian fries, Belgium culture, the port and the historical buildings and you’ll also see the portrait of 16^th century artist, Peter Paul Ruben’s and what I’m interpreting as his hands that have paint coming from the fingertips that presumably show off his talent of painting, it’s absolutely fascinating to look at and piece everything together and even make a story or interpretation up.

Just at the front of the castle as we came in, we passed a large bronze statue of a towering giant terrorizing townsfolk. The name is Lange Wapper, roughly translated to Long flag in English and the tale of this tall trickster is well known throughout the city itself. Legend has it that during the 16th century a farmer found a gigantic parsley and a red cabbage in his bed, which turned into a baby. He put the child up for adoption and the baby was soon fostered by a family in Antwerp, the boy grew up helping people in need until one day, when an old woman he saved gave him shape shifting powers in return. The boy then transformed into a giant and became known as Lange Wapper.

The giant was known to disguise himself as a child, to be able to drink young mothers breast milk, he also loved to vex drunkards in the night time and cheat in games he played with the local children. He also had a menacing laugh that would frighten the public, who in turn would call him the water devil. The Antwerpians were constantly bullied and tormented by him and as one story explained, he had a really strong dislike of the Virgin Mary. So people of the town would place effigies of the holy mother on their houses and stores to attempt to repel the giant, the legend goes that he really couldn’t stand it any longer and fled the city forever, other stories claim he fled but fell into the river and drowned.

The statue outside the castle was made in 1963 by Albert Poels and has became a iconic folklore tale of the city, the giant also made an appearance in the Belgian comic book series, Spike and Suzy.

Entrance to the Antwerp story is 7 euros, but you are able to experience the perimeter and the tourist site for free, of course we recommend paying to experience the exhibition as it gives a great snap shot into the cities history in a fun and interactive way.

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Till Next Time!