Top 10 Remarkable Facts about National Maritime Museum, Antwerp

View of an Imaginary Port or Maritime View. Unknown Author. Wikimedia Commons

Top 10 Remarkable Facts about National Maritime Museum, Antwerp

To visit the National Maritime Museum you need to travel to the city of Antwerp.  This is a port city on Belgium’s River Scheldt, with history dating to the Middle Ages.  It is said to be the coolest city in Belgium, popular with fashionistas, clubbers, art lovers and diamond dealers. It also ranks as one of the largest ports in Europe. Despite having its roots in Gallo-Roman times of the 2nd century, the city today is quite modern thanks to extensive bombing during the Second World War. But some gems of history remain.

1. It Offers A Good Example Of A Magnificent Historical Building

The National Maritime Museum in Antwerp offers a good example of a magnificent historical building. This is envisaged in the old fortress of the Steen (literally, stone building), erected in 1520. It was initially built as a municipal prison on the behest of Emperor Charles V.

Due to the changing times and the nine- teenth-century needs, the main part of the old city was destroyed to straighten the river Scheldt. As a result, the old prison found itself some- what isolated near the river. However, in 1952 it was decided that the impressive architectural volume of the old prison, with its outer walls containing remains of the twelfth-century city walls, acts as a real magnet to attract the tourists strolling alongside the river.

Thus, with time, it has created an important tourist trump-card which greatly explains the high number of visitors.

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2. It Gives An Insight And Significance Of The Objects That Were Being Used At The Time

Modern technology recaptures the maritime past of everyday objects that was very unique from what we see today. An example, is the raised edges on tables to pre vent dishes from sliding on to the deck when the ship rolls, or objects such as cardan suspension lamps. Another is an object such as the captain’s repeater (an independently illuminated compass suspended face downwards over the head of the captain’s bunk) that would seem absurd to anyone who had not seen a captain’s cabin.

For A Tourist eager to learn, the significance of the objects used in seafaring is from many standpoints that can only be brought home to the visitor in the actual context of the ship. They may seem simple objects, artistically naïve for the most part, yet they are ingeniously functional. That is their strong point.

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3. The Aim Was To Achieve Two Results

The reconstruction of part of a ship for the museum was aimed at achieving tow results. These were to get visitors to understand that in the world of the sea the form of objects is inseparable from their function, and to give them the unique sensation of a night watch at the helm of a sailing ship under the starry vault.

To heighten the effect, devices such as movement simulators were of course combined with the image and sound to suggest the real thing. This enables the visitors to experience the complex feelings of someone on shipboard in a storm.

4. The Design Is Quite Magnificent And Accommodating

Fascinating to the viewer, The National Maritime Museum of Antwerp, is thought to be a maritime collection in a historical setting snake round the central staircases. The visitor thus follows systematically three different circular tours, each one situated on a different and higher level. Once the uppermost circle is reached, two straight staircases lead downwards through the modern wing towards the exit. A sight to behold.

During construction, in this extension a spacious elevator was installed, thus creating the opportunity for both the disabled and the elderly to reach the upper levels and improving the transport of larger items from the museum’s storerooms, situated on the ground level.

5. A Great Deal Of Attention Was Given To The Educational Background Of The Exhibition

Another attribute was the genre-like design of the individual show- cases. You will be fascinated to see not just a model ship but each time a different elaborate combination of related elements.

This approach gives additional value to individual objects, which results in a surplus value for the whole. It should be mentioned here that a great deal of attention was given to the educational background of the exhibition. This can be noted in the text panels that accompany the objects, which are always in four languages. This of course makes a visit to the museum much more attractive for the foreign tourist.

6. There Is Also A Small Tour For Children

It also shows how deeply our common language was affected by the seaman’s vernacular. A special tour for children was created, drawing their attention to such matters as the different parts of the ship, an elementary knowledge of nautical instruments and the relation between ship type and history.

7. There Is A Lesson to Be Learnt

From the history, to the construction of the museum, we can deduce that; any comparatively ‘difficult’ historical building can be converted into a site suitable to house a museum. The original architectural limitations, rather than being an insurmountable nuisance, can be used as opportunities to create a very distinguished profile for the museum.

8. The themes were linked to the existing architecture

It is worth noting that different rooms were specifically designed for specific themes. The smallest exhibition rooms near the start of the museum tour were used to give the visitor a general idea of the kind of items a maritime museum collects, ranging from different types of model-making to artistic impressions of life at sea. The following somewhat larger rooms were each dedicated to one specific aspect of national maritime history. For example, inland navigation, fisheries, yachting or shipbuilding.

As much as possible, the designers tried to link the themes to the existing architecture, which resulted in some interesting juxtapositions. For example, for the theme ‘religions and superstition among sailors’ small museum room, dedicated to the history of the River Scheldt and Antwerp harbor9. Different Items Tell Different Stories.

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9. An East-Indiaman Together With A Chinese Statue Of The Captain Is A Must See

Moving further, you can also find an East-Indiaman together with a Chinese statue of the captain, a tin tea-box and a complete set of fine chinaware. With a bit of imagination each showcase can tell a different story, rather than just showing some marvelous pieces of maritime art or craftsmanship.

10. The Rooms Also Have Paintings Showing Antwerp In The Sixteenth Century

An Observation that can be made at the end of the museum tour is a small video room and a constantly changing exhibition of the museum’s recent acquisitions. There is also a very last room of the museum, so-called Raadzaal, splendidly deco rated with some fine paintings showing Antwerp in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, at the height of the city’s glory.