Atlantic Wall & Air War Bunker Museum Antwerp

Atlantic Wall & Air War Bunker Museum Antwerp is a military history museum set in Park den Brandt, in the Wilrijk district on the southern edge of Antwerp, Belgium. It preserves a surviving cluster of Second World War fortifications built as part of the Atlantic Wall, the coastal defense system Germany constructed along occupied Europe's shoreline, and also covers the air war fought over Belgium during that period.

What is the Bunker Village?

The heart of the site is the so-called Bunker Village, a group of eight reinforced-concrete bunkers erected in 1943. They were built as part of the broader network of defensive works intended to protect the coast against an anticipated Allied invasion. Of the eight structures, three are open to visitors today, and two of those have been converted into the actual museum space.

What is inside?

Stepping into the bunkers gives visitors a direct sense of what this type of wartime defensive structure looked like from the inside: thick concrete walls, narrow passages, and rooms built purely for military function rather than comfort. The museum exhibition, housed across the two adapted bunkers, presents artifacts and information related to both the Atlantic Wall fortifications and the aerial warfare carried out over the region during the war. This combination of authentic defensive architecture and an educational display layer helps visitors grasp the scale and logic of the fortification system these bunkers once belonged to.

Why visit?

What sets this museum apart is that it isn't a reconstruction — it's an original set of structures dating from 1943, preserved in the same green setting, Park den Brandt, where they were originally built. For anyone interested in the Second World War, military fortifications, or the history of aviation, it offers a chance to see physical remnants of that period up close rather than only reading about them. Its location within a park in Wilrijk also means a visit can easily be combined with a walk through the surrounding green space.

Frequently asked questions

How many bunkers can visitors see? Of the eight bunkers that make up the Bunker Village, three are open to the public, including two that have been converted into museum space.

When were the bunkers built? The Bunker Village was constructed in 1943 as part of the German Atlantic Wall defense system.

What does the museum focus on? The exhibition covers two connected subjects: the Atlantic Wall fortifications and the air war fought over the region during the Second World War.

Where exactly is the museum located? In Park den Brandt, in the Wilrijk district in southern Antwerp, Belgium.

Are these original wartime structures? Yes — the bunkers are authentic constructions from 1943, not a post-war reconstruction.