The Brabofontein is a fountain in the Belgian city of Antwerp. On the fountain is a bronze statue of Silvius Brabo by the sculptor Jef Lambeaux, which was cast at the Brussels Compagnie des Bronzes and unveiled in 1887. The Brabofontein is located in front of the Antwerp city hall on the Grote Markt. The fountain was financed with the legacy of August Nottebohm, uncle of Oscar Nottebohm.
The legend of Brabo is about the giant Druon Antigoon, who cut off the hand of unwilling toll payers and threw it into the Scheldt. However, Brabo killed the giant and in turn cut off his own hand, which he threw into the river. According to this explanation, Antwerp would come from Hand werpen (Hand throwing). However, the statue is positioned in such a way that Brabo seems to throw the hand towards the city. This is due to the limited distance between the city hall and the statue. If one were to position Brabo towards the Scheldt, it would seem as if Brabo wanted to throw his hand into the town hall. There are several versions of this legend. In one of them, Brabo throws his hand away from the river and says: "Where the hand lands, I will build a city: 'Handwerpen'". This corresponds to the direction in which Brabo throws his hand on the fountain.
According to the American historian John Lothrop Motley and many other etymologists and historians, the name Antwerp would however come from the Germanic anda (on, next to) and werpum (yard), so a city located at the (ship)yard. Another possible origin could be aan 't werp (from andoverpis). The word werp refers to a river silt or man-made embankment.
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