The oldest record about 'a town called Middelheim' dates back to 1342. The earliest known owner of the premises, with courtyard and farms, called Middelheem, is Laureys Van Aerschot de Jonghe (1399). During the 16th century and later, numerous Antwerp families had their summer residences there. In the 18th century, the 'château' was transformed in the Louis XVI-style, probably using architectural drawings of the Paris architect B. Guimard. It has not been transformed significantly since.
In 1910, the City of Antwerp bought the entire property to prevent it from being subdivided and opened the park to the public.
Later, in the 1960s and 1970s , some parts of the grounds were used to build the Middelheim Hospital, the Antwerp University and the Pastoral and Theological Centre.
In 1950, for the first time, the Middelheim park (20 ha) housed an international sculpture exhibition. After a proposal by Mayor Lode Craeybeckx, the municipal council decided to found a permanent open-air museum for sculpture. Now, fifty years on, we can enjoy a splendid collection of sculptures offering a selective overview of modern sculpture, among which works by Jean Arp, Emile Antoine Bourdelle, Alexander Calder, Pablo Gargallo, Barbara Hepworth, Floris and Oscar Jespers, Aristide Maillol, Giacomo Manzu, Henry Moore, Louise Nevelson, Reinhoud, Auguste Rodin, Jesus Rafael Soto, Rik Wouters, and Ossip Zadkine.
In 1971, at Middelheim-Hoog the Braem pavilion, designed by the Antwerp architect Renaat Braem, was inaugurated. Here, you can admire smaller sculptures and works from the collection that cannot be displayed in the open.
Every two years from 1951 onwards, during the summer months, the internationally renowned Biennial for Sculpture has been organised. The grounds of Middelheim-Laag at the other side of the Middelheim Park have been used since 1963 for the Biennials and exhibitions. In 1989, the 20th Biennial ended the series.
Meanwhile, the collection has been extended with works from Guillaume Bijl, Tony Cragg, Luciano Fabro, Per Kirkeby, Matt Mullican, Juan Muñoz, Panamarenko, Henk Visch, Franz West, Jef Geys, Jessica Stockholder, Carl André and Timm Ulrichs. Recently the museum bought works by Joep Van Lieshout, Ann Veronica Janssens, Luc Deleu, Pedro Cabrita Reis and Dan Graham.
