Fort 7

Fort 7 is a fort located in Wilrijk and part of the Brialmont belt. Construction began in 1859 and was completed in 1864. The fort is built with beautiful masonry and decorations in natural stone. It also has some original brick and concrete hollow traverses.
During World War II, the fort served as an ammunition depot for the German Luftwaffe. At the end of August 1944, just before the liberation, the commander of the fort, Major Wilhelm Metzger, was ordered to have the ammunition stock blown up so that it would not fall into Allied hands. Metzger, a staunch anti-Nazi, was unwilling to encourage useless bloodshed. Instead, he ordered all ammunition to be dropped into the moat around the fort on 3 September 1944, in order to save human lives and thus disable the ammunition. In this way, the fort was exceptionally well preserved.

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