Wilrijk is a suburb of the city Antwerp, in Belgium. Before January 1, 1983 it was an independent town, since then it is a part of the city of Antwerp. The Cathedral of our Lady (Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal, Antwerp) in the Handschoenmarkt, in the old quarter of Antwerp is the largest cathedral in the Low Countries and home to a number of triptychs by Belgian Baroque painter Rubens. ... January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Cathedral of our Lady (Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal, Antwerp) in the Handschoenmarkt, in the old quarter of Antwerp is the largest cathedral in the Low Countries and home to a number of triptychs by Belgian Baroque painter Rubens. ...

This suburb is also known as the Goat village, because of its Goat parade. Every five years this parade attracts a lot of tourists. The most recent one was on September 18, 2005. September 18 is the 261st day of the year (262nd in leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Overview

Part of the bigger city of Antwerp, Wilrijk has been able to conserve its own town-like look. Consisting of modern living areas mixed with older neighourhoods, this suburb shows a nice balance between living, commercial and industrial activities. A cocktail of hospitality, sport and recreation in a green environment, makes of Wilrijk one the pearls in the crown of Antwerp. Civilization in this area was already present in 600 BC. This has a been shown by the excavation of a Celtic burial site in Wilrijk, which until now is the oldest sign of civilization discovered in the region around Antwerp. The Cathedral of our Lady (Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal, Antwerp) in the Handschoenmarkt, in the old quarter of Antwerp is the largest cathedral in the Low Countries and home to a number of triptychs by Belgian Baroque painter Rubens. ... Centuries: 8th century BC - 7th century BC - 6th century BC Decades: 650s BC 640s BC 630s BC 620s BC 610s BC - 600s BC - 590s BC 580s BC 570s BC 560s BC 550s BC Events and Trends Fall of the Assyrian Empire and Rise of Babylon 609 BC _ King Josiah... This article is about the European people. ...

Demography

The total area of Wilrijk is 13.61 km² and it has 38.220 inhabitants (2004). Square kilometre (US spelling: Square kilometer), symbol km², is an SI unit of surface area. ...

Evolution of the population size

19th century

20th century until fusion with Antwerp

History

From a Celtic settlement to a modern suburb

Probably the first time people lived in this area was around 600 BC. In 1003 the first document appeared in which the name uuilrika was mentioned. This document tells about the existence in 743 AD of a community living around the central square in Wilrijk which is called Bist. The triangular shape of the Bist shows the Frankish past of Wilrijk. One of the current theories is that the name Wilrijk is actually derived from the Gallo-Roman word Villariacum (meaning: Part of the domain of a Roman Villa). Evidence for the existence of a Roman villa was found in a nearby village Kontich. This article is about the European people. ... Statue of Charlemagne (also called Karl der Große, Charles the Great) in Frankfurt, Germany. ... This article covers the culture of Romanized areas of Gaul. ... The Roman Empire contained many villas which were rather like country houses, though suburban villas on the edge of cities were known, such as the Middle and Late Republican villas that encroached on the Campus Martius, then on the edge of Rome, and which can be also seen outside the... Kontich is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. ...

After the closing of the Zwyn and the decay of Bruges, the city of Antwerp became of more importance. At the end of the 15th century the foreign trading gilds moved from the city of Bruges to Antwerp. These "foreigner" were well received by the families in Antwerp. Some of the richer people from Antwerp escaped their busy live in the center of the city and, attracted by the rural character of Wilrijk (and other towns surrounding Antwerp), started building large houses (little castles) there. These houses are called Hoven van plaisantie, some of these still exist even today: Klaverblad, Schoonselhof, Ieperman, Steytelinck, Middelheim, De Brandt, Hof Ter Beke. Others didn't survive: Jezuietenhof, Ooievaarsnest (Oversnes), Hoonsnest (Hondsnest of Hof van Van Dael), Groenenborgerhof, Elsdonkhof, Standonk, Korenbloem, ... But their names still remain in the consciousness of the people living in Wilrijk through names of streets and neighbourhoods. Sometimes referred to as the Venice of the North, Bruges has many waterways that run through the city. ... The Cathedral of our Lady (Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal, Antwerp) in the Handschoenmarkt, in the old quarter of Antwerp is the largest cathedral in the Low Countries and home to a number of triptychs by Belgian Baroque painter Rubens. ...

On November 30, 1589 the village was completely burnt by some Geuzen coming from Bergen op Zoom. It takes Wilrijk 20 year to start reconstruction of the houses, in that time the population had to live in poor wooden huts. The Watergeuzen (or simply Geuzen) were a fleet of privateers during the Eighty Years War, the Low Countries (or Netherlands) rebellion against the Spanish occupation, which began during the reign of Philip II of Spain (in the 1550s). ... Bergen op Zoom is a municipality and a city in the southern Netherlands. ...

In the middle of the 18th century an important road is constructed between Antwerp and Boom. Because of the expansion of Antwerp some suburbs (Kiel and Beerschot) that were a large source of food products for Antwerp, started to get too crowded. There function was taken over by the farmers in Wilrijk and they started delivering milk, vegetables and flowers to Antwerp. The Cathedral of our Lady (Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal, Antwerp) in the Handschoenmarkt, in the old quarter of Antwerp is the largest cathedral in the Low Countries and home to a number of triptychs by Belgian Baroque painter Rubens. ...

On October 6, 1819 Wilrijk received its own Coat of arms from King William I of the Netherlands and the Hoge Raad van Adel. It consists of a picture of Saint Bavo as a knight on a blue background, with in his left hand a falcon and in his right hand a sword, the right corner contains an image of the Saint Bavo church in Wilrijk. Image File history File links CoatOfArms. ... October 6 is the 279th day of the year (280th in Leap years). ... 1819 common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... A modern coat of arms is derived from the medi val practice of painting designs onto the shield and outer clothing of knights to enable them to be identified in battle, and later in tournaments. ... King William I of the Netherlands was born as Willem Frederik on 25 August 1772 in The Hague, and died December 12, 1843 in Berlin, Germany. ... Saint Bavo, also known as Bavon, Allowin, Bavo of Ghent, Baaf, (589 - 654) is a Roman Catholic saint. ... Species About 37; see text. ... Saint Bavo, also known as Bavon, Allowin, Bavo of Ghent, Baaf, (589 - 654) is a Roman Catholic saint. ...

In the second half of the 19th century the town started to change because of the construction of two forts in the neighbourhood of Wilrijk (Fort 6 and 7) (1859-1865). These were part of a whole array of 8 forts protecting the city of Antwerp. At the same time some important connections were constructed between these fortications, leading to new roads and railroads in Wilrijk and even a railway station. The Cathedral of our Lady (Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal, Antwerp) in the Handschoenmarkt, in the old quarter of Antwerp is the largest cathedral in the Low Countries and home to a number of triptychs by Belgian Baroque painter Rubens. ...

Mayor M. Willems(1863-1870) started the planning of a new town hall. The architect of the province of Antwerp Eugeen Gife was given the task to design this new building, but it was the next mayor Jules Moretus (1870-1874) who would see the actual start of the construction. The town hall was finished in 1873, some changes were made to it in 1920, 1936, 1952, 1963, 1970 and 1977. Since 1994 it is officially protected as a monument.

Until the 19th century Wilrijk had stayed a rural, quite poor community independent of Antwerp. From then on a lot of the inhabitants started to search for a job in the center of Antwerp, and Wilrijk flourished. In 1810 Wilrijk had 1660 inhabitants, this increased in 1840 to 2275, and in 1875 it were already 3553, to become 6243 in 1900. It was a slow evolution, and Wilrijk evolved from a rural village into a small suburb.

In the 20th century some of the Hoven van plaisantie were demolished, and their large surrounding parks were used to construct new housing projects. The primary goal was to create new urban areas after the First World War. The first new immigrants were mostly people moving from the city to the fresh air in the suburbs. Some of Wilrijks district that were created this way are Eenheid, Elsdonk and Valaar. Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ...

Wilrijk as a suburbian town

When the population exceeded 20000 inhabitants in 1928, the town acquired the Hof van plaisantie Steytelinck. From then on, Wilrijk had its own public park, close to the center.

During the Second World War Wilrijk suffered a lot because of bombardments by the Germans with the V1 and V2. 71 civilians were killed by as much as 65 bombs. Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... The Fieseler Fi 103/FZG-76 (Vergeltungswaffe-1, V-1), known as the Flying bomb, Buzz bomb or Doodlebug, was the first modern guided missile used in wartime and the forerunner of todays cruise missile. ... The V-2 rocket or Vergeltungswaffe 2 (Retaliation Weapon 2) was an early ballistic missile used by the German Army during the later stages of World War II against mostly British and Belgian targets. ...

After the war Wilrijk again started to grow rapidly. The agricultural character disappeared and was replaced by industry. Again a lot of people migrated from the center of Antwerp to the suburbs. This time also the first high buildings appeared in Wilrijk. The population number attained its top. In 1950, 27.213 inhabitants, in 1956 30.000 and in 1964, 40.000. On January 1, 1975 the number of inhabitants was officially 44.219, from this day on the population size would decrease steadily. January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ...

In 1960 the town council decided to renew the town center. This urbanistic project included some high buildings, a shopping center and a cultural center. There was agreed to create a large industrial area of 1.5 km² next to the important economical axes Antwerp-Boom (Boomsesteenweg(A12)). More than 6000 people are employed in this area right now.

Because of the increase in traffic the Boomsesteenweg(A12) was modernised in 1958 (also because of the Expo '58 in Brussels). In 1978 the highway Antwerp-Brussels(E10, now called E19) and the R11 were constructed, further dividing Wilrijk into different parts. The communial road network was more than 200 km. The Atomium. ... Emblem of the Brussels-Capital Region Flag of The City of Brussels Brussels (French: Bruxelles, pronounced in Belgian French and in International French; Dutch: Brussel; German: Brüssel) is the capital of Belgium, the French community of Belgium, the Flemish community and one of the three capitals of the European... Europes road system incorporates a series of European routes, which are numbered E1 and up. ... Europes road system incorporates a series of European routes, which are numbered E1 and up. ...

Until then Wilrijk had been an independent town with its own town council and mayor, but this was about to change ...

Wilrijk as part of Antwerp

On January 1, 1983 Wilrijk became, together with seven other communities - Antwerp,Berchem,Borgerhout,Ekeren,Hoboken,Merksem and Deurne - part of one big city of Antwerp. This way a city with more than 500.000 inhabitants was created. All the former towns became "districten(in Dutch)" of Antwerp. A lot of city services were centralised and the town(district) counsil lost almost all of its powers. Every district kept its own "districtshuis(former town hall)" with services like: information, social affaires, registry of bearths, deaths and marriages, ... January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Cathedral of our Lady (Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal, Antwerp) in the Handschoenmarkt, in the old quarter of Antwerp is the largest cathedral in the Low Countries and home to a number of triptychs by Belgian Baroque painter Rubens. ... Antwerp in Belgium Berchem in Greater Antwerp Berchem is the southern part of the city of Antwerp in the Flemish region of Belgium. ... Borgerhout is a district in Antwerp, Belgium with 40. ... Ekeren is a northern suburb of Antwerp, Belgium. ... Image of Hoboken taken by NASA (red line shows where Hoboken is). ... A district of the city of Antwerp. ... See also: Deurne, Belgium. ... The Cathedral of our Lady (Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal, Antwerp) in the Handschoenmarkt, in the old quarter of Antwerp is the largest cathedral in the Low Countries and home to a number of triptychs by Belgian Baroque painter Rubens. ...

However, this move to a centralised administration created some resistance among the inhabitants. In a gesture "to bring the government back to the civilians" a decentralisation was started on January 1, 2001. Some of the powers went back to the districts, including: the "look" of the town, youth policy, festivities, sports and communication. This way it was possible to react faster to local needs. January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ...

Lange Wapper

Lange Wapper is a mythical being that appears in a lot of folk tales in Flanders. According to belief (especially from people living in Wilrijk) Lange Wapper was born in Wilrijk, near the Hoven van plaisantie De Brandt and Middelheim on the fields of farmer Peer-Jan. One day he found a huge red cabbage between his vegetables. He touched it, and found out that it was actually a newborn. Because he was too poor to raise the child, it was adopted by a family from Antwerp. The boy grew up, and he became known as someone who always protected the helpless. One day he saved an old lady from drawning and she gave him the gift to make himself very tall or very small whenever he liked it. This is how he got his name Lange(Long) Wapper. Since he always protected people he got some respect, but he also made some strange noises, sounding like a goat, and that's why he also became known as a water devil. Folklore is the ethnographic concept of the tales, legends, or superstitions current among a particular ethnic population, a part of the oral history of a particular culture. ... Flanders (Flemish, Fleming) (Dutch: Vlaanderen (Vlaams, Vlaming)) has two main designations: a geographical region in the north of Belgium, corresponding to the Flemish Region, a consituent part of the federal Belgian state. ... Cultivar Group Brassica oleracea Capitata Group The Red Cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. ...

Since people in Wilrijk wanted to make sure the entire world would believe that Lange Wapper really was theirs, they organised a great party in 1964 to baptise a 8 meter long giant, Lange Wapper, with beer in the presence of a monk from Deerlijk. After that the giant was officially made inhabitant (honoris causa) of Wilrijk by mayor Kiebooms. This, of course, created only more discussion between the center of Antwerp and Wilrijk about who actually "owned" Lange Wapper. Deerlijk is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. ...

He is one of the main figures of the Goat parade in Wilrijk.

Cultural Activities

Goat parade (Geitestoet)

In the period that Wilrijk was still a poor town, a lot of people kept a little goat at home, to give them some meat and milk if needed. Because of this, the richer people were laughing with the silly people from Wilrijk with their goats. When in 1895 there was an election for the town council, there was a big election fight between the Catholic and the liberal parties. The liberals accused the Catholics of fraud, and because the people of Wilrijk didn't want to listen to them, they called them 'Goat heads'(Geitekoppen(Dutch language)). From this time on, Wilrijk was known as the 'Goat town'. As with a lot of these names, after a while it become a title of honor for people living in Wilrijk. So, when in 1965 Wilrijk celebrated its 1200 year existence, the people organised a 'Goat parade', consisting of decorated carts, people wearing costumes and of course...goats. There was also a cart showing Lange Wapper.

After the fusion with Antwerp in 1983 people became nostalgic, and they started to look at their common past. Plans were made to organize a new Goat parade, which happened for the first time again, after 25 year of silence, on September 16th 1990. Since then, a Goat parade is organised every five years (1995, 2000, 2005). The last one featured: 1500 participants in special costumes, 10 groups of dancers, 12 decorated carts, 16 groups of musicians, gaints, coaches, horses, ... and a record breaking amount of goats.

Annual Fair(Jaarmarkt)

In a lot of towns there is a custom to have an Annual Fair to create an opportunity for farmers to show and trade their livestock. All the farmers in the region come to the town with the livestock or other goods they want to sell. Over time this has evolved in a larger cultural event. This annual fair is still held every year in Wilrijk in August. It consists of a weekend during which a large amount of activities are organised: a painters competition, an old-timer rally, a funfair, some expositions, ... In the streets surrounding the town hall you can find farmers showing their animals (goats, horses, cows, ...) and there are also competitions to decide which farmers have the best animals. A travelling funfair has many attractions, run by different showmen, who all converge for the duration of the fair, then go their separate ways to set up at fairs in other towns. ...

Sport

• VTV (Vlaamse Tennis Vereniging): A tennis school where Kim Clijsters trained in 1996 and were she met her coach Carl Maes(1996-2002). You might say that it is here her career really started.
• KFCO Wilrijk (Soccer club)
• SK Wilrijk (Soccer club)
• Antarctica (Large ice skating facility)
• Aspen (Artificial skiing slope)
• AVI (Athletics club)
• Wilrace (Table tennis)

Kim Clijsters IPA (help· info) , (born on June 8, 1983, Bilzen, Belgium) is the current World No. ...

Twin town

The twin town of Wilrijk is Niedernhausen in Germany. Niedernhausen im Taunus is a town in Hesse, Germany. ...

Commercial/industrial/institutional sites

• Universiteit Antwerpen Campus Drie Eiken: One of the four campuses of the University of Antwerpen (the site in Wilrijk was formerly known as UIA (Universitaire Instelling Antwerpen))
• IKEA: One of the 6 IKEA stores in Belgium. Size store: 18.600 m²,
• Agfa-Gevaert: Part of the Agfa Gevaert Mortsel site
• Coca-Cola Company: One of the three production/distrubtion centers of the Coca-Cola Company in Belgium. Number of employees: 541 (in 2005)
• ISVAG: A large facility that burns household waste from Antwerp and other towns in the region. Burns 100.000-150.000 tons a year
• Atlas Copco Airpower: The largest fabrication facility of air compressors in the world. Number of employees: 2300 (in 2005)
• Rizla: Part of the Imperial Tobacco Group it is a major producer of tobacco rolling papers in the world. The site in Wilrijk has 160 employees and produces 30 billion leaves a year (2004).

). Universiteit Antwerpen is a university based in Antwerp, Belgium. ... IKEA is a Swedish home furnishings retailer. ... Agfa-Gevaert N.V. develops, manufactures and distributes analogue and digital products and systems for the making, processing, and reproduction of images. ... Mortsel is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. ... The Coca-Cola Companys headquarters in Atlanta, GA. The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is an international beverage and food manufacturer whose headquarters are in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States of America. ... The Coca-Cola Companys headquarters in Atlanta, GA. The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is an international beverage and food manufacturer whose headquarters are in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States of America. ... Atlas Copco is a Swedish industrial company that was founded in 1873. ... Rizla+ (commonly known as just Rizla) is a brand of rolling paper. ... Imperial Tobacco PLC is the largest cigarette manufacturer in the UK, second largest in Germany and fourth worldwide, following its purchase of Reemtsma Zigarettenfabriken, adding brands such as Davidoff, Peter Stuyvesant and West to its line-up. ...

External links

• The official site of Wilrijk is [1] (this site is in the Dutch language).
• The site of the Goat parade [2] (this site is in the Dutch language).
• A site containing information about the history of the name 'Goat village' [3] (this site is in the Dutch language).
• Legends of Wilrijk [4] (this site is in the Dutch language).
• History of Wilrijk [5] (this site is in the Dutch language).