Kapellen (, old spelling: ''Cappellen'') is a municipality in the Belgian province 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,

. The municipality lies in the Campine in the northern part of the province. Kapellen consists only of the town of Kapellen proper. In 2021, Kapellen had a total population of 27,157. The total area is 37.11 km². Kapellen consists out of multiple neighbourhoods, Kapellen Center, the eastern part of

Putte Putte () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality includes the towns of Putte, Beerzel, and the hamlets and . The town of Putte is around east of Mechelen. In 2021, Putte had a total population of 18,109 ...

, Kapellenbos, Hoogboom and Zilverenhoek. A number of neighbourhoods in Kapellen have a residential character and are characterized by their villaparcs, exclusive landhouses, and beautiful castles. Many who flee the always busy town enjoy Kapellen's peaceful nature. The town's

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club is R. Cappellen F.C. and has played at the national level for many years.

History

The communities that are now part of Kapellen date back to the 13th century. Hoogboom can be found as Hobonia on documents from 1267. Hoghescote, the current center can be seen 10 years after Hoogboom in Ertbrand, which has now become

. The Zilverenhoek neighborhood, only a part of Kapellen since 1983, first appeared in 1844 on a cadastral plan. Since its origin Kapellen has been a part of

lordship A lordship is a territory held by a lord. It was a landed estate that served as the lowest administrative and judicial unit in rural areas. It originated as a unit under the feudal system during the Middle Ages. In a lordship, the functions of econ ...

Ekeren Ekeren () is a northern district of the municipality of Antwerp in the Flemish Region of Belgium. The suburb celebrated its 850th birthday in 2005; the name of the town was first mentioned in 1155, as "Hecerna". The name possibly originates from ...

. Since the 13th century, parts of the territory have regularly changed ownership. Eventually, in 1714 the entire

came under the ownership of one family, one of the lords Salm-Salm. During the French occupation, Kapellen became, in 1795, part of the municipality

Stabroek :''Georgetown, Guyana was known as Stabroek prior to 1812.'' Stabroek () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the towns of and Stabroek proper. In 2021, Stabroek had a total population of 18,6 ...

until it, eventually, in 1800, became its own municipality. Since then they have slowly been adding neighborhoods of

Hoevenen :''Georgetown, Guyana was known as Stabroek prior to 1812.'' Stabroek () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the towns of and Stabroek proper. In 2021, Stabroek had a total population of 18,68 ...

and

to the territory of Kapellen. The current municipal borders have been determined since 1983 when the neighborhoods Hoogboom and Zilverenhoek from

became part of Kapellen. In comparison to its worldly power, its spiritual power has had a less complex history. The parish of Hoghescote became part of the St. Bernard's Abbey of Hemiksem. Until then the parish depended on the Saint-Lambertus church of

. The church of Kapellen is the oldest building in the municipality. Until the 14th century a chapel sufficed to help the people who lived there. The church has been built up and renovated further throughout the ages. The

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

for example dates back to the 14th century while the

Transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building withi ...

was built in the 16th century. During the 19th century, the tower and the interior of the church were renovated in with a

neogothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

look.

The further history of Kapellen is characterized by periods of growth and poverty. During the Fall of Antwerp Kapellen suffered greatly. All important buildings and 90% of all houses were destroyed. During the Twelve Years' Truce there was a short resurgence of the municipality until 1623, when the plague raged. The real resurgence had to wait until 1674 when the church was rebuilt. All this abruptly ended with the start of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The forced service for the German army and the

Spanish flu The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...

caused many deaths. After the war, there was a brief recovery period until 1930, when a crisis fell over the municipality. Recovery had to wait until after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The municipality Kapellen was freed on 4 October 1944 by the Canadian battalion Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal.

Demographics

Evolution of the population

19th century

20th century until the reorganization of municipalities

After the reorganization of municipalities

Transport

Past

In 1759 a cobblestone road was built between

Merksem Merksem (; former spelling: ''Merxem'') is a district of the municipality and city of Antwerp in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It has 44,808 inhabitants as of 2021. History The history of Merksem goes back to Gallo-Roman times. During that perio ...

and Kapellen. These days this (no longer cobblestone) road is known as the Kapelsesteenweg (on the territory of

and

Brasschaat Brasschaat () is a municipality located in Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium, and in the Flemish province of Antwerp. The municipality only comprises the town of Brasschaat proper. In November 2006, Brasschaat won the LivCom-Award 200 ...

) or the Antwerpsesteenweg (on the territory of Kapellen). In 1853 the railroad

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,

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

was built. Thanks to this railroad the first steam powered train could run through

Kapellen railway station Kapellen is a railway station in the town of Kapellen, Antwerp, Belgium. The station opened on 26 June 1854 on the Antwerp–Lage Zwaluwe railway, known in Belgium as Line 12. Just outside the station, to the north, on the east-side there is ...

in 1854. Because of the railroad connection many rich people from Antwerp decided to build villas in the municipality. The local railways reached Kapellen on 31 July 1927 and the tram was extended to the border of

on 1 December 1928.Rail Atlas Vicinal, Uitgever: Rail memories. Door Stefan Justens & Dick van der Spek The level crossing of the tram and the railroad was there for just short period of time. On 1 March 1934 the railway connection between

and Kapellen is opened and from 1 February 1938 forward trams between

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,

and

rode through

. (Line 72, between 1 September 1936 and 1 February 1938 no passenger trams rode between Kapellen and

). Since 31 August 1936 the tram from

was limited to just before the railroad crossing (line 65). On 26 May 1967 the last tram rode through Kapellen, as line 65.

Famous inhabitants

Christine Soetewey Maria-Christine Soetewey (married Van Vlierberghe) (born 19 August 1957 in Kapellen) is a retired Belgian high jumper. She finished ninth at the 1980 European Indoor Championships, twelfth at the 1980 Olympic Games, ninth at the 1982 Europea ...

, retired Belgian high jumper *

Sam Bettens Sam Bettens (born in 1972) is a Belgian musician and the lead singer of the Belgian band K's Choice. In May 2019, he came out as a transgender man. Career K's Choice In the mid-1990s, Bettens formed the band K's Choice with his brother Ge ...

and

Gert Bettens Gert Bettens is the lead guitarist of the Belgian band K's Choice. He, with his brother Sam Bettens, is the face of the band. The band is popular in Europe and had toured in the U.S. with The Verve Pipe, Tonic, Alanis Morissette and the Indig ...

, musicians,

K's Choice K's Choice is a Belgian rock band from Antwerp, formed in the mid-1990s. The band's core members are brothers Sam Bettens (lead vocals, guitar) and Gert Bettens (guitar, keyboard, vocals). They are joined by Bart Van Lierde (bass), Tom Lodewyckx ...

* Geert Grub (1896–1980), poet, writer and Flemish activist * Margaretha Guidone, activist for the environment and against global warming * Didier Ilunga Mbenga, NBA basketball player * Baron Paul Kronacker (1897–1994), politician *

Tom De Mul Tom De Mul (; born 4 March 1986) is a Belgian former professional footballer who played as a right winger. Club career Born in Kapellen, Antwerp, De Mul began his career in K.F.C. Germinal Beerschot, but joined the AFC Ajax youth academy at ag ...

, former football player *

Kevin Van Dessel Kevin van Dessel (born 9 April 1979 in Kapellen, Belgium, Kapellen) is a Belgium, Belgian former footballer who last played for RKVV EVV, EVV in the Dutch Topklasse. Prior to that he served Germinal Ekeren, NAC Breda, Genoa C.F.C., Roda JC, Sint ...

, former football player *

Dirk Van Mechelen Dirk Louis Maria Van Mechelen (born 27 August 1957) was the Flemish minister of Finance and Budget and Town and Country Planning. He is a member of the Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats. Education He obtained a degree in history from the Katho ...

, politician, Flemish minister *

Thomas Vermaelen Thomas Vermaelen (born 14 November 1985) is a retired Belgian professional footballer who is currently an assistant coach for the Belgium national team. Being left-footed, he usually played as a left-sided centre-back and could play at left-bac ...

, former football player * Gordan Vidovic, former football player *

Rocco Granata Rocco Granata (born 16 August 1938) is an Italian-Belgian singer, songwriter, and accordionist. Granata was born in Figline Vegliaturo, Calabria, southern Italy; but his parents immigrated to Belgium when he was aged ten. Rocco's father was a ...

, singer *

Mathieu van der Poel Mathieu van der Poel (born 19 January 1995) is a Dutch cyclist who rides for the UCI ProTeam . He competes in the cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, gravel cycling, and road bicycle racing disciplines of the sport and is best known for winnin ...

, cyclist

References

External links

* *
Official website
{{Authority control Municipalities of Antwerp Province Populated places in Antwerp Province