Anne de Strom Museum

The An de Strom Museum attracts curious gaze from the facade of its building. The unusualness of an architectural solution that meets all modern requirements is even more striking when introduced into the history of this place. It is hard to believe that on the site of this Museum on the river, which opened only a couple of years ago, earlier in Napoleon’s time there were ordinary military barracks, and cellars served as a warehouse for grain.

But time does not stand still, and now here, since 2011, the Shipping Museum, numbering more than 6000 artifacts.

It is noteworthy that the observation deck of the museum is not only a panoramic square on the upper floor, but also spiral staircases inside the room. It also became an architectural highlight of the Dutch architectural firm Neutelings Riedijk, which won an international design competition for the new museum. There are several halls in the museum, and if some of them are closed (because they work on certain days), then visitors will still be able to appreciate the archaeological finds of pre-Columbian America, as well as products made of precious stones, metals and much more, being on the spiral staircase.

Antwerp’s centuries-old connection with other countries and continents is reflected in the museum’s historical collections. It is worth noting that the echo of the ancient legend of the city are the walls of the building, which are decorated with images of the hand, symbolizing the victory over the domination of the giant in ancient times, it was the evil giant who cut off the hand of the brave warrior Brabo and freed the inhabitants of Antwerp from paying tribute.