History

The first rural population centres appeared in this area in the 4^th century AD and were inhabited by the Salian Franks ( Merovingians, followed by Carolingians). It was under their reign that the Duchy of Brabant was founded. The population centres in Kalmthout at that time included Hillo, Foxemaat, Calmetholt,… The people living in the centres mainly inhabited the higher, fertile lands, where they practised agriculture and animal husbandry.

The name ‘Calmetholt’ was mentioned for the first time on 15 March 1146. In Trastevere, in Italy, a legal instrument mentioned that the lord Arnold van Brabant had donated half of Calmetholt to the new abbey in Tongerlo. Eleven years later his son, Arnold II, also donated the other half to the abbey. The fathers of Tongerlo abbey were a blessing for the region. They immediately set about creating farms, draining swamps and cultivating wastelands, forests and moors.

The last local abbot of Tongerlo abbey, Godfridus Hermans, lived in the 18^th century on ‘De Greef’ estate. The magnificent eponymous abbey that still exists dates back to this period.

During the French occupation (1795-1815) the Tongerlo Premonstratensians were expelled and all the abbey property was confiscated. The centuries-old seigniory was dissolved and Kalmthout became an independent municipal authority..

Kalmthout was chiefly an agricultural municipality for many centuries. After the construction of the Antwerp-Roosendaal railway line, in the 19^th century, a large part of the municipality developed into a residential area surrounded by farmland and nature reserves.

The splendid Kalmthout municipality and its moorland now covers roughly 6,000 ha and comprises five districts: Centrum, Dorp-Heuvel, Achterbroek, Nieuwmoer and Heide. To the north-west of the municipality a few streets in the Hoek district still form part of Kalmthout. The population of Kalmthout is currently 18,000.