Bonaparte Dock

Submitted by jurgen on Thu, 07/09/2015 - 10:29

Napoleon wanted to transform Antwerp into a war port to defeat England. In 1803, he commissioned the construction of two new docks in Nieuwstad. Two canals were drained and the Boerenkwartier neighbourhood demolished, under the supervision of an engineer called Mengin. Two thousand labourers and prisoners of war dug up more than 1,000,000 m³ of soil. The first ship sailed into the dock through Bonaparte Lock on 1 January 1811. After Napoleon’s defeat, the docks were used for trade. William I donated them to the city. In 1903, the Small Dock or “Klein Dock” was renamed Bonaparte Dock. Nowadays it is used as a museum dock.

Link: 
Credits for the illustrations
GISid: 
053
Afbeelding: 
Map of Bonaparte Dock and Willem Dock, 1813
The Boerenkwartier neighbourhood near the Hanseatic House (A. Grimmer)
“Entry of Napoleon in Antwerp” (Van Bree)
Napoleon’s beaver felt hat, 1815
Lithograph with a “View of Bonaparte Lock and the docks”
“View of the Small Dock and the Hanseatic House”, c. 1812
Latitude: 
51.23
Longitude: 
4.40
Meer info: 
Napoleon in Antwerpen

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