Café d'Anvers

In 1989, Café d’Anvers opens it doors in the Verversrui in Antwerp, a street smack in the middle of the red-light district or sailors’ quarter. It is a logical move. An entire generation is screaming for a new approach and is looking for a new 'house', a vibe perfectly understood by the five Café d’Anvers founders from Leuven, two models, a restaurant owner, a photographer and a solicitor, who were all in their twenties. Café d’Anvers was not to be just another club, it was to be the house of an entire new generation, the first page of a completely new chapter, written in its own language and translated to the rhythm of the new dance temple. Weekend after weekend, young people came down to the Antwerp red-light district from all over the country just to lose themselves on the dance floor in the rhythm of an ever-hotter beat.

The policy was a simple one: you can do anything, but you don’t have to. Things could never be too over the top. People wanting to explore their boundaries had come to the right place at Café d’Anvers. Drag queens, outrageous outsiders, inexhaustible nighthawks and famous deejays were trampling over each other to get through the door of Café d’Anvers. The neighbours were exceptional, too and were not eager to complain about the noise. The prostitutes were happy to see the masses of clubbers coming. There was always something to do at night and they made the streets much safer. Everybody felt at home in Café d’Anvers and the club became a trendsetter, a victim of its own success.

Fortunately, the owner is a good landlord, who understands that his ‘house’ sometimes needs to take a new turn. In eighteen years Café d’Anvers has pushed boundaries, blown up bridges and broke with tradition. We are proud of it. As a monument among Antwerp monuments, we know that in eighteen years time, we still will have the image we had in 1989. How about you?