Ekeren is a northern district of the
municipalityA municipality is an administrative entity composed of a clearly defined territory and its population and commonly denotes a city, town, or village, or a small grouping of them. A municipality is typically governed by a mayor and a city council or municipal council.The notion of municipality...
of
Antwerp||-||-||-||}Antwerp is a city and municipality in Belgium and the capital of the Antwerp province in Flanders, one of Belgium's three regions. Antwerp's total population is 472,071 and its total area is , giving a population density of 2,308 inhabitants per km²...
in the
Flemish RegionThe Flemish Region is one of the three official regions of the Kingdom of Belgium alongside the Walloon Region and the Brussels-Capital Region...
of
BelgiumThe Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO...
. The
suburbSuburbs are defined in various different ways around the world. They can be the residential areas of a large city, or separate residential communities within commuting distance of a city. Some suburbs have a degree of political autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city...
celebrated its 850th birthday in 2005; the name of the town was first mentioned in 1155, as "Hecerna".
Ekeren was a distinct
municipalityA municipality is an administrative entity composed of a clearly defined territory and its population and commonly denotes a city, town, or village, or a small grouping of them. A municipality is typically governed by a mayor and a city council or municipal council.The notion of municipality...
with its own town hall,
mayor"Mayor" is a modern title used in many countries for the highest ranking officer in a municipal government....
, and
city councilA city council is the legislative body that governs a city, municipality or local government area.-Australia:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council may vary slightly...
until 1983, when most of it, along with 8 other municipalities was merged into the city of
Antwerp||-||-||-||}Antwerp is a city and municipality in Belgium and the capital of the Antwerp province in Flanders, one of Belgium's three regions. Antwerp's total population is 472,071 and its total area is , giving a population density of 2,308 inhabitants per km²...
.
In 2000 the Antwerp city council initiated additional district councils with responsibilities including sports, culture, youth and elderly people. Since this
decentralization__FORCETOC__Decentralization or Decentralisation is the process of dispersing decision-making governance closer to the people and/or citizen. It includes the dispersal of administration or governance in sectors or areas like engineering, management science, political science, political economy,...
, the Antwerp municipality consists of nine districts (the old city, seven former municipalities at its borders, and the
BezaliBerendrecht, Zandvliet and Lillo are three towns along the seaport docks north of the old city of Antwerp in Flanders, Belgium. The substantial 1983 merger with former municipalities, led in 2000 to the decentralisation of this enlarged municipality of Antwerp while these three towns merged into...
merger of three towns). The first district council of Ekeren, elected in 2001, was led by Christophe Thomas; the second district council, elected in 2007, by Ronny Kruyniers. The district council gathers in the 16th century-era Hof van Veltwijck, which had seen major restructuring works around 2000; this complex also houses local administrative offices.
Ekeren used to be the home town of the Germinal Ekeren football team until Germinal merged with
K. Beerschot V.A.C.Koninklijke Beerschot Voetbal en Atletiek Club is a former Belgian football club from Antwerp. This club was founded in 1899 when most players of R. Antwerp F.C. left the club. After many financial problems over the years, they finally merged with K.F.C...
into
K.F.C. Germinal BeerschotK.F.C. Germinal Beerschot is a Belgian football club based in Antwerp. This club was established in 1999 as a result of the merger between K.F.C. Germinal Ekeren and K. Beerschot V.A.C..- History :...
(in 1999). The new club is based in the
Olympisch StadionThe Olympisch Stadion or Kielstadion was built as the main stadium for the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp. It is currently used as the home ground of K.F.C...
in Antwerp.
Ekeren is home to the Jozef Pauly municipal academy for music and word, which has around 2000 pupils as of 2004 (also counting branches in some other districts of the city of Antwerp, and one in the nearby municipality of Kapellen). The academy hosts many
musical ensembleRock band redirects here. For the video game series, see Rock Band A musical ensemble is a group of two or more musicians who perform instrumental or vocal music...
s; the Jozef Pauly
fluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind group. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
ensemble has made concert tours to
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
and the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It should be noted that municipal music academies in Belgium are distinct from the public educational system; attending these academies is entirely optional, and merely a hobby for most of the students.
The 1 square kilometre large domain of the
Oude Landen is a unique and extremely diverse piece of nature situated near the border with the Antwerp city district. Since it was a military area until 1972 (but not often used as such) where trespassing was strictly forbidden, nature was allowed to have its way for decades; the area now contains a rich mixture of plants and animals in eight more or less separate mini-ecosystems.
In 1703, Ekeren was the site of a battle in the
War of the Spanish SuccessionThe War of the Spanish Succession was fought among several European powers, principally the Holy Roman Empire, Great Britain, the Dutch Republic, Portugal, and the Duchy of Savoy, against the Kingdoms of France and Spain and the Electorate of Bavaria, over a possible unification of the Kingdoms of...
, known as the
Battle of EkerenThe Battle of Ekeren, June 30 1703 was a battle of the War of the Spanish Succession. The French surrounded a Dutch force, which barely avoided complete destruction...
. Some street names in Ekeren (for example, the "Successiestraat", "Vierkerkenstraat", and "Tweekronenstraat") still refer to this occurring.
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