The Brabo Fountain ( nl, Brabofontein) is located in the Grote Markt (main square) of

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

, Belgium, in front of the

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

. The ceremonial inauguration of the sculpture took place in 1887.

Jef Lambeaux Jef Lambeaux or Josef Lambeaux (14 January 18525 June 1908) was a Belgian sculptor. His best known work is ''Temple of Human Passions'', a colossal marble bas-relief. Early life and education Lambeaux was born in Antwerp, Belgium, on 14 January ...

realized the set of the bronze fountain. The reason is the legend of the name of the city, in which it is said that the giant Druon Antigoon cut off a hand to all the ship captains who moored in the area and refused to pay toll, then throwing it to the

Scheldt The Scheldt (french: Escaut ; nl, Schelde ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of Netherlands, the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corr ...

. The captain of the Roman army Brabo cut off the giant's hand imitating what he had done. The fountain reflects the moment when the Brabo throws the giant's hand into the river. According to this legend, the etymology of the name of the city Antwerp is a composition of the Dutch words "(h)ant" (hand) and "werpen" (launch). However,

John Lothrop Motley John Lothrop Motley (April 15, 1814 – May 29, 1877) was an American author and diplomat. As a popular historian, he is best known for his works on the Netherlands, the three volume work ''The Rise of the Dutch Republic'' and four volume ''His ...

argues, and so do a lot of Dutch etymologists and historians, that Antwerp's name derives from "''anda"'' (at) and ''"werpum"'' (wharf) to give ''an 't werf'' (on the wharf, in the same meaning as the current English

wharf A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths (mooring locatio ...

). ''Aan 't werp'' (at the warp) is also possible. This "warp" (thrown ground) is a man-made hill or a river deposit, high enough to remain dry at high tide, whereupon a construction could be built that would remain dry. Another word for werp is ''pol'' (dyke) hence

polder A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as dikes. The three types of polder are: # Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a lake or the seabed # Flood plains s ...

s (the dry land behind a dyke, that was no longer flooded by the tide).

References

External links

* {{Authority control Buildings and structures in Antwerp Fountains in Belgium