Rugs in Antwerp (centre): buying, restoration, cleaning

Who lives here

The Jewish community of Antwerp numbers roughly 20,000 to 25,000 members, of whom around 20,000 are Haredim and around 10,000 Hasidim (2018 figures). It is traditionally concentrated in the district south of the central station, known locally as "Joods Antwerpen". Three large synagogues there are known by their addresses: Van Den Nestlei, Bouwmeesterstraat and Oostenstraat. Yiddish, French, Hebrew, English and German are all commonly spoken.

Rugs that are used every day and handed down: here we do more heavy restoration — fringes, selvedges, reweaving — than occasional cleaning. We set collections ahead of the festivals, and never from Friday evening to Saturday.

The rug market

The diamond district runs around the central station along four streets: Pelikaanstraat, Rijfstraat, Hoveniersstraat and Schupstraat. 85% of the world's rough diamonds pass through this district every year. The Diamond Exchange goes back to the end of the nineteenth century, the Diamond Office was created in September 1944, and the rail link with Amsterdam existed as early as 1845. Over the past ten years or so, a large share of the wholesale trade has passed to the Indian Jain community.

A few hundred metres from here, a whole district lives on expertise and cash payment. Our rug buying works the same way: we examine the rug at your home, we hand over a written valuation and we pay cash, with no obligation to sell.

Where rugs change hands

The Vrijdagmarkt square was laid out in 1547 by the town planner Gilbert van Schoonbeke, who cut through the Bergstraat, Leeuwenstraat, Valkstraat and Heilig Geeststraat to do so. As early as 1549 the market for old clothes and furniture was moved there from the Grote Markt; the name "Vrijdachsmerct" appears from 1585 onwards. To this day, complete house contents from bankruptcies, estates and seizures are sold there at public auction.

Five centuries on, complete house contents still change hands on the same spot. We work the same way at your home: an estate lot is bought as a whole, rugs included, without going through a saleroom.

The building stock

Zurenborg, straddling Antwerp and Berchem, was built between 1894 and 1906, at the height of Art Nouveau: Cogels-Osylei, Transvaalstraat and Waterloostraat form its core, with a mixture of Art Nouveau, neoclassical town houses, neo-Gothic, neo-Renaissance, neo-Greek and Tudor cottage. Many of the houses are listed. At the other extreme, on the Eilandje, the Montevideo pakhuizen were built in 1897 to the city's order by the municipal engineer Frans De Winter, in twelve months and for 331,000 francs, first for storing hides, then occupied from the 1950s by the British army — before their current conversion to housing.

Two worlds, two ways of handling: in an Art Nouveau house the rug goes up a narrow stairwell rolled and upright; in a warehouse loft it often runs over four metres and goes through the goods lift, or not at all. We check the access before taking it away for washing.

Collection

Antwerp has had a low-emission zone since 1 February 2017. It covers the city inside the R1 ring road plus the Linkeroever; the R1 itself, the port and a few access roads are excluded. The tightening planned for 1 January 2026 has been dropped: Euro 5 diesel and Euro 2 petrol remain admitted in 2026. Foreign plates must be registered beforehand (or on the day itself, within 24 hours); fines run from €150 to €350. Since 1 August 2023, on-street parking in the historic core has been reserved for residents and permit holders: loading and unloading remains free, a "parkeervergunning voor ondernemingen" can be obtained online, and the maximum height of covered car parks has to be checked before taking a van in.

Our van complies with the Antwerp low-emission zone and is registered as a business vehicle. In practice, we do not count on two hours of parking that no longer exists: we agree a loading window, the time it takes to bring your rugs out.

Damp and water

The Scheldt is a tidal river and Antwerp is directly exposed to it. The Scheldekaaien project (2005-2030) is stabilising and raising more than 7 km of quays, from the Droogdokkeneiland in the north to Blue Gate in the south: the dyke rises to +9.25 m TAW in zones 1 and 2 of Blue Gate, 75 cm more than the current +8.50 m and about 90 cm more than the 1976 structure. The quay walls have been sliding towards the Scheldt since 1883, under the effect of the underlying clay and the pressure of the water table.

An Antwerp cellar is damp by nature, not only after a flood: wool goes mouldy there and the back comes apart. Do not store a rug in a cellar — have it washed, dried flat and wrapped, and it will keep for years in the dry.