Merksem

Around the year 600, the Franks started colonizing the area near the local Saint-Bartholomew's Church, which was the highest point of Merksem at the time. In 750, the Scheldt river finally started settling itself into its current river bed, which resulted in parts of Merksem becoming peat bog (a type of wetland). Current street names of these areas still refer to these wetlands. (The 1998 and 1999 floods of some residential areas were due to Merksem's geographical location. This would later result in the deepening of the Schijn tributary). In May 1561, Merksem and Schoten were split up.

The current Bredabaan (Breda Road) functioned as a gate between Antwerp and cities located to the north. In 1742, the road would become a toll road.

At the beginning of the 19th century, Merksem was a very rural area with a population of 750. Local farmers mainly provided the nearby city of Antwerp with straw, giving the inhabitants of Merksem the nickname "stroboeren" (straw farmers). In 1874, the area became more industrialized, and most of the land was bought by S.A. Etablissements Industriels et Commerciaux de Merxem. The company would construct the local industry dock (known as 'het dokske'). Due to its ideal location, multiple industrial and commercial companies started to establish themselves in the are, contributing to the population increase.

During World War II, Merksem was occupied by Nazi Germany from 20 May 1940 until its liberation on 4 October 1944. The local population was affected by political repression, deportation, hunger, bombings etc. Many locals opposed the occupation. Resistance fighters were deported to the nearby concentration camp of Breendonk.[1][2]

The road currently known as Bredabaan (Breda Road), once a major northern access to Antwerp, begins in Merksem and goes up north, all the way up until the border with the Netherlands. It ends in the Dutch city of Breda (hence the name). Other major axes would include Lambrechtshoekenlaan, Groenendaallaan, Maantjessteenweg and Ringlaan. Together with Bredabaan they could be considered as the boundaries of the centre of Merksem. Another main axis, that constitutes most of the southern border of the district, is a canal called the Albert Canal, which connects the Port of Antwerp to the river Meuse near Liège and is an important connection for inland freight shipping.