Kalmthout

Kalmthout
Municipality
Town hall
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Kalmthout
Kalmthout Location in Belgium Location of Kalmthout in the province of Antwerp
Coordinates: 51°23′N 04°28′E / 51.383°N 4.467°E / 51.383; 4.467
Country	Belgium
Community	Flemish Community
Region	Flemish Region
Province	Antwerp
Arrondissement	Antwerp
Government
• Mayor	Lukas Jacobs (CD&V)
• Governing party/ies	CD&V
Area
• Total	59.41 km2 (22.94 sq mi)
Population  (2020-01-01)[1]
• Total	18,872
• Density	320/km2 (820/sq mi)
Postal codes	2920
NIS code	11022
Area codes	03
Website	www.kalmthout.be

Kalmthout (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈkɑl(ə)mtɦʌut]) is a municipality in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the villages of Kalmthout, Achterbroek, Heide, and Nieuwmoer. In 2021, Kalmthout had a population of 19,020. The total area is 59.45 square kilometres (22.95 sq mi).^[2]

In addition to Kalmthout itself, the municipality also contains the communities of Dorp-Heuvel, Heide, Achterbroek, and Nieuwmoer.

The Arboretum Kalmthout is one of Belgium's most beautiful botanical gardens. The Kalmthoutse Heide is a nature reserve of nearly 10,000 acres (40 km²) spanning the border between Belgium and the Netherlands.

The "Kalmthoutse Heide" is a big natural park in Kalmthout. It is open to the public and has more than 15 different routes that can run for tens of kilometers.

The first synagogue outside of a city in Belgium was built in 1928 on Leopoldstraat in the village of Heide. This pre-dates the Catholic church St. Jozef's and can be seen on the local walking tour. The Jewish community played an important part in local history, with the first Belgian yeshiva also being built in Heide. Many architecturally innovative villas from the community still stand and can be seen during walking tours guided by local historians.

• Peter Janssens van Kalmthout (c. 1535 - 1572), Norbertine priest, was born here
• Hector Carlier (1884-1946), industrialist and cofounder of Petrofina
• Maria Rosseels (1916-2005), journalist and writer
• Willy Vandersteen (1913-1990), Flemish comic book creator of Spike and Suzy
• Karel Bossart (1903-1975), designer of the Atlas missile
• The three members of Flemish folk and world music group Laïs are from Kalmthout.

• Media related to Kalmthout at Wikimedia Commons
• (in Dutch) Kalmthout Official website
• (in Dutch) Scouts Kalmthout heuvel Official website
• (in Dutch) Arboretum Kalmthout Official website