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Deurne (District, Municipality of Antwerp, Belgium)

Presentation of the district of Deurne
Former municipality of Deurne

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Presentation of the district of Deurne

The district of Deurne (69,585 inhabitants on 1 January 2007; 1,306 ha) was formed in 1983 when the former municipality of Deurne was merged into the municipality of Antwerp.

In 1830, the first municipal election in Belgium after the revolution took place in Deurne-Borgerhout, with the majority of the voters coming from Borgerhout and electing J. Huybrechts as the Mayor. The revamping of the ruined Reuzenhuis of Borgerhout as the town hall increased the political quarrel between Borgerhout and Deurne, which eventually split.

Deurne is proud of its five museums:
- Renaat Braem Huis, dedicated to the post-war architect Renaat Braem (1910-2001), a former student of Le Corbusier in Paris and Professor of Urbanism at the Architecture Institute of Antwerp;
- Museum Stampe en Vertongen, a war aircraft museum;
- Natuurhistorisch Museum Boekenberg, a natural history museum, located since 1863 in the caves of the Boekenberg Park;
- Volksmuseum Turninum, a museum of popular culture;
- Zilvermuseum, the Provincial silver museum, housed in castle Sterckhof.

Source: District website

Ivan Sache, 3 October 2008

Former municipality of Deurne

Flag of the former municipality of Deurne - Image by Ivan Sache, 3 October 2008

The flag of the former municipality of Deurne, still hoisted on the town hall of Antwerp, is blue with two horizontal yellow stripes, the central blue stripe being higher than the other. The colours of the flag are taken from the municipal arms.

The arms of Deurne are "Azure three chevrons or an escutcheon of the same a tree vert." According to Servais [svm55], the arms were granted by Royal Decree on 29 August 1842.
The three chevrons come from the seal of the noted Van Dorne family, used for the first time in the 13th century, for instance in 1270 on Cole Van Dorne's seal. At that time, there was not a great diversity in the families' seals, their main element being the writing on the rim. In Antwerp, several families used a seal with chevrons, for instance van de Werve (see the municipalities of Schilde and Vorselaar), van Wesele, van Wijneghem, van der Elst and van Dorne. In the 14th century, Gijsbrecht van Dorne had only one daughter, Agnete van Dorne, who married Wulfaert Vilain (d. before 1377) without having a child, and subsequently Renier van der Elst. Their son, also named Renier van der Elst, inherited the domain of Deurne. His son, Cole van der Elst, bore in 1413 quartered arms, with a tree in the first and fourth quarters and the three chevrons of the van Dorne family. The tree is most probably canting for the name Van der Elst, els meaning in Dutch "an alder".

After the split of the municipality of Deurne-Borgerhout, the new municipal council of Borgerhout applied for the arms of the former municipality, "Gules three chevrons argent an escutcheon of the same a tree vert", and the arms of Deurne were slightly modified to "Azure three chevrons or an escutcheon of the same a tree of the first".

Source: District website

Ivan Sache & Jan Mertens, 3 October 2008