Bunkermuseum Antwerp, Wilrijk 

Bunkermuseum Antwerp

In the Antwerp Park Den Brandt during WW2 the headquarters of the German 89th Army Corps was established, responsible for defending the Atlantikwall in Belgium and Walcheren. At the moment these listed monuments serve as a museum which besides the Atlantikwall also covers the air war over Belgium and especially the V-weapons on Antwerp. The NPO Bunker & Airplane Archeo Antwerp invites you to come and explore up to 3 different bunkers during our monthly opening, special events or guided tours on request.

 

The castle grounds “Den Brandt” in Wilrijk near Antwerp were chosen by the German command as the location to build “Generalkommando LXXXIX AK”, the headquarters of the 89th Army Corps. This corps was responsible for occupying the Atlantic Wall between the Belgian-French border and the Walcheren peninsula in the Netherlands. Also Antwerp was part of the area assigned to the 89th Army Corps and was turned into a separate “Abschnitt” (zone).

 

In 1943 two “Führungsbunkers” (commandbunkers) of the SK1 type were build on the castle grounds, together with several bunkers for soldiers, a hospitalbunker and two communicationbunkers. To defend the complex in 1944 a “Sicherungsring” (security ring) was installed to the north of the park for: “Verteidigung des Gefechtsstandes des Generalkommandos gegen feindliche Angriffe aller Art.” (Defense of the headquarters against enemy attacks of all kinds). Land and anti-air cannons were positioned around the headquarters which according to period documents had to fight till the last man!