Turnhout, Antwerpen, Belgium Genealogy

History
Turnhout is a Belgian municipality located in the Flemish province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises only the city of Turnhout proper. The Turnhout city council often promotes the city as the capital of the Kempen area. This designation is entirely unofficial, since the Kempen area is far larger than the Turnhout district and does not form an administrative unit. Turnhout originated on the crossroads of two major trade routes and in the protection of the hunting castle of the Dukes of Brabant that seems to have existed since 1110 or earlier. In 1830, Belgium became independent, and Turnhout fell just south of the new border with the Netherlands.