The name "Vrieselhof" goes back to Jan van Vriesele, a nobleman from Kontich who bought about 24 bundles of land in Oelegem (about 32 ha) around 1300. He gave the land as a dowry for his daughter. More information from that time is not known. In 1450 an important farm with seigniorial rights was mentioned on the domain, which included forests, heathland and marshland. In 1457 there was talk of a knightly court, called 't hof van Vriesele. The owner, Matheeus van Steenbergen, then received permission from Philip the Good, the Duke of Burgundy, to set up a late court at his court. This was a lower court where a meier could adjudicate on local disputes. In 1495 Josine van Steenbergen inherited the domain. It was then that court canals were mentioned for the first time. Among the owners of the castle were some mayors of Antwerp: Kosten van Halmale and Hendrik van Halmale. During the Eighty Years' War (16th -17th century), the inhabitants of Oelegem took shelter in the castle several times. From 1509, members of the van Halmale family owned the domain. The last descendant, Alfons-Ignace van Halmale, died childless in 1788. After that, the castle domain came into the hands of Charles-Ignace d'Oultremont and his wife Anne-Henriette de Neuf. The latter still had ties to the van Halmale family: her grandmother was Barbara Anna Philippa van Halmale (daughter of Alexander Jozef van Halmale, who was also mayor of Antwerp). For the new heirs, the castle was a country residence where they rarely stayed. Restoration works were carried out on the castle in the 19th century. The nearby coach house with storage dates from 1877. In 1910 Count Louis de Brouckhoven de Berkeyck became the owner of the whole. He had the old castle rebuilt in Neo-Flemish-Renaissance style with stepped gables, brick layers and corner towers, but after the outbreak of the First World War, the Belgian troops burned the castle down for strategic reasons on October 7, 1914. Between 1917 and 1919, the current castle was burned down. rebuilt in the same style as the recently built ruined castle. In 1974 the castle and the accompanying domain were sold to the province of Antwerp by the grandchildren of Louis de Brouckhoven de Berkeyck. Source : Wikipedia
In the valley of the Groot Schijn, where Antwerp ends and the Kempen begin, lies the impressively quiet Vrieselhof castle domain. The silence is almost palpable. Due to a variety of biotopes, it gets a different look every season.
The name "Vrieselhof" goes back to Jan van Vriesele, a nobleman from Kontich who bought approximately 24 hectares of land in Oelegem around 1300 (approximately 32 hectares). In 1975, a year after the sale to the province of Antwerp, the domain was opened to hikers. From 1977 to 1999 the "Provincial Textile and Costume Museum" was located in the Vrieselhof. Due to a lack of resources, only a limited part of the collection could be exhibited. In 2002, the museum moved to Antwerp and was named Fashion Museum Antwerp. In 2003, the Provincial Library Center settled in the castle, together with administrative services. In 2011, a "library of Flemish classics" was opened within the Provincial Library Center. Works by classical Flemish writers are collected and loaned out here. In 2014, the Antwerp provincial council decided to restructure the culture department. The library center would be merged with the Cultural Dissemination and Arts Service into a new Libraries and Arts Service. In 2015, the Provincial Library Center moved to Antwerp, but the collection of Flemish classics remained in the Vrieselhof.
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