The house’s name refers to the giant Druon Antigon, who is said to have lived in the fortress during the Roman period and demanded tolls from skippers passing through. He would chop off the hands of those who refused to pay up.
After 1875, the Scheldt quays were re-aligned. The largest part of the fortress city of Antwerp disappeared as a result. This included “Werf” (the wharf) and St. Walpurga’s Church.
Napoleon acquired the palace in 1811, intending to use it as an imperial residence. He would never stay there however. King Albert I resided in the palace during World War I.
In 1903, Antwerp celebrated the centenary of the Napoleonic Decree. The town council built a memorial for this. After a provisional stucco monument, the definitive memorial was inaugurated in 1906.
Before Napoleon became first consul, the French had already decided to turn Antwerp into a military and naval base. His visit to the city in 1803 accelerated everything.
There are remnants of the sixteenth-century city wall in Londenstraat and Amsterdamstraat. The line of the wall can be partly seen aboveground in the new design of the street.
