Inside the historic Den Argentin warehouse, the history of the Port of Antwerp comes to life through more than 1,200 objects, from tools and vehicles to everyday items once used on the quays.

Step inside Den Argentin today and you enter a world that long helped set the rhythm of life in Antwerp. Loading and unloading, stacking and weighing, transporting and storing: generations of dockworkers kept goods moving, at a time when much of the work was still done by hand or with mechanical equipment, before containerisation radically transformed the port.

The Maritime and Logistics Heritage collection of The Phoebus Foundation preserves the material traces of this activity. Large machines sit alongside hand tools, vehicles, documents and other equipment once used on and around the quays. Together, they tell the story not only of the port’s technical and logistical development, but also of the everyday work of the people who kept it moving.

From Warehouse to Heritage

Den Argentin is more than a place for storage. The building itself is part of the history told here.

In the second half of the nineteenth century, Antwerp underwent a period of profound change. The Spanish fortifications were demolished, the port expanded, and warehouses and industrial buildings sprang up along the city’s new boundaries. It was against this backdrop that wool merchant Jean Jacques Melges commissioned a warehouse complex in the 1870s. The wool stored there, imported from Argentina’s Río de la Plata region, gave the complex its name: Magasins Argentins, later known as Den Argentin.

In 1918, the warehouse was acquired by Katoen Natie. The original complex, however, did not survive much longer. In December 1944, it was destroyed by a V-bomb. After the war, Den Argentin was rebuilt to a design by architect Victor Maeremans.

Meanwhile, port activity gradually shifted further north, leaving Den Argentin as a witness to Antwerp’s changing urban landscape. Where wool and other goods once passed through, the material history of life in the Port of Antwerp is preserved today.

Heritage Day Flanders 2026

During Heritage Day Flanders on Sunday 13 September 2026, Den Argentin will be open to visitors free of charge. From 10 am to 4 pm, explore the collection and the stories behind its objects, brought to life by volunteers with an exceptional knowledge of Antwerp’s port history.

A rare opportunity to experience a lesser-known chapter of Antwerp’s port history up close.

Practical information