Berchem
Encyclopedia
For the Dutch Golden Age painter, see Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem
Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem
Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem was a highly esteemed and prolific Dutch Golden Age painter of pastoral landscapes, populated with mythological or biblical figures, but also of a number of allegories and genre pieces....

For Dead Man Ray
Dead Man Ray
Dead Man Ray is a Belgian cult rock band, originating from Berchem near Antwerp. Among its members are Daan Stuyven, Rudy Trouvé , Elko Blijweerdt, Wouter Van Belle and Herman Houbrechts, who was later replaced by drummer Karel De Backer. Their debut Berchem was released in 1998 including the...

's album, see Berchem (album)
Berchem (album)
Berchem is the debut album of the Belgian rock band Dead Man Ray, released in 1998. The album is named after the town of Berchem, near Antwerp, where the band originates.-Track listing:* All music by Dead Man Ray.#"Beegee" – 5:00#"Inc." – 2:42...

For the small town in Luxembourg, see Berchem, Luxembourg
Berchem, Luxembourg
Berchem is a small town in the commune of Roeser, in southern Luxembourg. , the town has a population of 827....



Berchem is a southern district of the municipality
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

 and city of Antwerp in the Flemish Region
Flemish Region
The Flemish Region is one of the three official regions of the Kingdom of Belgium—alongside the Walloon Region and the Brussels-Capital Region. Colloquially, it is usually simply referred to as Flanders, of which it is the institutional iteration within the context of the Belgian political system...

 of Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

. Berchem is located along the old Great Stone Road ('Grote Steenweg' in Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...

) that has connected Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

 to Antwerp for several centuries; the town borders the districts of Deurne, Borgerhout
Borgerhout
Borgerhout is a district of the municipality and city of Antwerp in the Flemish Region of Belgium. The district houses 41,614 inhabitants reflecting 90 nationalities...

, Wilrijk
Wilrijk
Wilrijk is a district of the municipality and city of Antwerp in the Flemish Region of Belgium. Wilrijk had been a separate municipality before January 1, 1983; the enlarged municipality of Antwerp was decentralized in 2000 and Wilrijk became one the city's nine districts.This suburb is also known...

 and Antwerp
Antwerp (district)
Antwerp District coincides with the old city of Antwerp. Since the municipality and contemporary city of Antwerp in the Flemish Region of Belgium was decentralized in 2000, this district level of government steadily increased its administrative powers....

 and the municipality of Mortsel
Mortsel
Mortsel is a city and municipality close to the city of Antwerp located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality only comprises the city of Mortsel proper. On January 1, 2006 Mortsel had a total population of 24,427 people. The total area is 7.78 km² which gives a population density of...

. Berchem itself consists of three quarter
Quarter (country subdivision)
A quarter is a section of an urban settlement.Its borders can be administratively chosen , and it may have its own administrative structure...

s, Oud Berchem, Groenenhoek and Nieuw Kwartier.

The 'Ring', Antwerp's circular motorway which follows the track of the former city defense walls, cuts Berchem in two parts, separating the urban inner city area of Oud-Berchem (intra muros) from the more residential and suburban areas Groenenhoek en Nieuw Kwartier (extra muros).

Demography

Berchem's total surface is over 1500 acres (6.1 km²), and it is inhabited by more than 40,000 citizens.

Political structure

After the decentralization of Antwerp in 2000, Berchem became a semi-independent district with its own legislative body, the so-called District
District
Districts are a type of administrative division, in some countries managed by a local government. They vary greatly in size, spanning entire regions or counties, several municipalities, or subdivisions of municipalities.-Austria:...

sraad (District Council), and its own executive college. The District Council includes 23 members, directly elected for six-year terms by popular vote. The executive college comprises five Aldermen
Alderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...

 (Districtsschepen
Schepen
A schepen is a Dutch word referring to a municipal civic office in Dutch-speaking countries. The term is still in use in Belgium, but it has been replaced by wethouder in the Netherlands. The closest English terms are alderman, member of the municipal executive, councillor and magistrate,...

en
), including a District Mayor (Districtsburgemeester), who are installed by the District Council.

The District Council currently consists out of seven members of Socialistische Partij Anders-Spirit, six members of Vlaams Belang
Vlaams Belang
Vlaams Belang is a Belgian far-right political party in the Flemish Region and Brussels that advocates the independence of Flanders and strict limits on immigration, whereby immigrants would be obliged to adopt Flemish culture and language...

-VLOTT
VLOTT
VLOTT is a Belgian right-wing liberal or fortuynist political party. The acronym VLOTT stands for Flemish Liberal Independent Tolerant and Transparent . It was founded on November 23, 2005 by ex-Flemish Liberals and Democrats member Hugo Coveliers...

, four members of Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats (Open VLD), four members of CD&V-New-Flemish Alliance
New-Flemish Alliance
' is a Flemish right-wing political party, founded in the autumn of 2001. It is a conservative and liberal movement that promotes civic nationalism...

 and two members of Groen!. The DEFUSIE party of former District Mayor Pros Slachmuylders did not win any seat in the District Council in the last elections of October 2006.

The current District Mayor is Peter Raets, a member of the Socialist Party - Different (SP.A), and the four other Aldermen are Fatiha Azzaoui (SP.A), Luc Thiessen (CD&V), Ann Bakelants (Open VLD) and Axel Polis (Open VLD). Fons Borginon
Fons Borginon
Alfons "Fons" Borginon is a Belgian politician and lawyer. He was a member of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives between 1995 and 2007. Borginon was the last chairman of the Volksunie and Flemish Liberals and Democrats floor leader from 2006 until the general election of 2007. He was also...

 (Open VLD) is the Speaker
Speaker (politics)
The term speaker is a title often given to the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body. The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the...

 of the District Council.

Points of interest

The Zurenborg
Zurenborg
Zurenborg is an area in south-east Antwerp largely developed between 1894 and 1906 that features a high concentration of townhouses in Art Nouveau and other fin-de-siècle styles....

 area hosts a high concentration of Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...

 and other fin-de-siècle style townhouses, many built between 1894 and 1906. The main streets of interest are Cogels-Osylei, Transvaalstraat, and Waterloostraat. After the area was entitled for demolition in the 1960s to be replaced with a business and office complex, demolition could be prevented while the area got monumental status in the 1980s. In recent years, the area became an attraction for architecture-minded visitors.

The Driekoningenstraat - Statiestraat is the main shopping and commercial area of Berchem. Though suffering competition from suburban shopping centers, the retail highstreet still has an interesting mix of Belgian, local, and international convenience and non-food stores. The highstreet has recently been refurbished, giving more space to pedestrians.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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