Thanks for watching! Here's more you might like: ▪ The sad last days of a German Ghost Town: th-cam.com/video/WWBgCnRwGqc/w-d-xo.htmlsi=TGJWu6l6rEOKVY7I ▪ Weird border: Is this Germany or the Netherlands? th-cam.com/video/jATA_9A-fWE/w-d-xo.htmlsi=eEzQSYPAWwoCaf2w ▪ Why the Windows XP Meadow no longer exists: th-cam.com/video/-M-6YCHIJtU/w-d-xo.htmlsi=EPBndg7VpSftw4Je
1 note about the nuclear power plant: you are giving a very tendentious view, by following german media. Germans got afraid of it, somehow. Although the necessary technology is mainly German, Siemens for instance.
Hello Matthias, great story again! I lived very close to Doel for several years for work and I'm quite familiar with the village and what happened to it. As a small correction, the sign at 10:33 says "Wij wonen hier!" which translates to "We live here!", not "Welcome". They probably put up this sign as people entered and trespassed their property without permission because they thought the property was abandoned. The plan for the harbor was that the village would be torn down and a dock would be built there. Residents of the village were initially offered the estimated resale value of their house +20~25% extra to encourage them to sell their house or property. Many people took the money and moved to towns close by Doel (towns like Kieldrecht, Zandvliet, Verrebroek, Berendrecht, Stabroek..). The people that refused the buy-out and stayed initially got criticized by the government, harbor and contractors for not allowing the expansion to happen. Over time they got sympathy from outside people, as you mentioned, and people started petitions and protests against the removal of Doel. The "Doel 2020" people see themselves as David fighting Goliath. The people that do still live there are mostly older of age and have lived/worked there their whole life. Most of them worked in the port of Antwerp or companies close or related to the harbor. Nowadays it's not as easy to live there anymore, super markets aren't close enough, there's no school or restaurants.. it must be very tough to still live there. From the other abandoned towns you mentioned some still exist; Lillo as a town is no longer inhabited but Fort Lillo (very small centre of the town of Lillo) still has residents living there and they have a small bar/café where the residents meet and talk over a beer. It even has a very small pier where residents have their private boats moored.
Its selfish to stay when you are offered such a good sum of money that these villagers were done, for once the government was kind. And they are met with rejection still, this will only encourage government to offer no cash and send in the army and tanks, run your house over, because a few select people think they are better than everyone else. If this story was about the poor villagers being offered poor value, it would be sympathetic, but this is not the case.
@@SMGJohnIt's not about that... It's about the fackt thay lived and worked thare thare hole life, thare soule is engeaved in the touwn... I live at Kieldrecht, a town next to it, and im proud to live at Kieldrecht, if lived thare my hole life, it's about pride, my grandmother walked these Streets, my grandfather helped lay the streedstoned, Stone by Stone... It's about pride and love for your home... Becouse the house is not our home, it's the hole touwn
Hey, I grew up in the village for a while, my uncle owned a property next to the creepy Church next to the school, we used to wander the homes and play around, we never broke anything and never forced entry. Sadly enough after a while of adventurous behaviours people started to come from other towns and places, they would sleep in the buildings and destroy the properties... We really loved the villa with the pool in the back it has auch a 70s feeling, there was also the abandoned pump station with the empty warehouse across the street, Sadly enough more people from outside the town came over and the properties we liked to visit all became destroyed or people just slept in it.
@driesvancleemput4430 not to mention that their whole family is buried next to the church. It's not privileged people cause Doel never had any rich people. Those people mostly worked as laborers in the same harbor that tried to push them out and the government only offered that high payment because they thought that their refusal to go had something to do with money but they refused the money all together!
I loooooove Doel, I live close by in Antwerp. A few times in a year we go there to visit a friend who lives therel. You even filmed his house and car.😁
@@leentemmerman3941 vraagje! Mag je daar metaaldetectie doen? Zou dit zo graag eens doen met een vriend wie weet vinden we hele leuke dingen! Kan je dit eens bevragen? ✌🏽
@@ReddoFreddo But the government did sign a agreement with those same harbours people that NOTHING is going to be removed. There is a picture on VRT with all the people on the field there listening to the speech of then minister Diependaele, who is now prime minister of Flemish government ;-)
@@hadiamrane If they saw no potential opportunity to expand the harbor at some point in the future by holding on to the land, they would've sold if off already.
@@ReddoFreddo They did ;-). The government already told all the old owners of those houses that they can buy the home back and the government will help those with renovations. It was like a couple of months ago on the news.
@@surferduderocks200 there is about 15 houses that are inhabited atm, but as we speak they are starting to renovate some houses and they are planning to renovate all of them
Been there a couple of times! In the Netherlands we don’t have much abandoned places so that’s the reason there are a lot of Dutch tourists. It’s the closest abandoned place near the Netherlands. The ride to Doel is indeed a wild ride haha, last ride I got a flat tire… 😅Anyway cool video and shots, thanks for sharing!
julliez in Nederland leven ook met 5.000.000 mensen meer dan nin Belgiè, daarom zijn er ZEKER geen verlaten dorpe, ohg ja de statushouders in Nederland hebben voorrang op een woning boven de native Nederlander
i used to live there ,well done your story is very accurate the reason no body wants to live there anymore is mostly :if u want anything like fuel a bread or even a cigarette u most travel at least 20 min by car to the nearest village to get something and u get like u said a lot of people good or bad in your garden its not really the safest place to leave your belongings , then calling emergency services at least 30 min ,,,if they want to come . used to live very happy in the totally overgrown house
I’ve grown up there too. The house I Grew up in was broken down around 7 years ago. I’ve such great memories there, but now I only get emotional when visiting. It’s so Sad how it all went and in the end all for nothing 😢
To be correct: The "cracks" in the nuclear power plant are in the concrete dome around the reactor, so unless there is a meltdown, it's not that bad. Meanwhile this is fixed and Doel3 is back up and running. Also at 15:42 the white text on the wall reads: "Later when all the beautiful memories take place of my sorrow I could maybe write what I cannot tell now with my tears"
False. Doel 3 was actually the first reactor to permanently close down in 2022. This was actually decided based on the history with the cracks despite its younger age and higher production. Same goes for Tihange 2, which shut down in 2023. Doel 1 and 2 will shut down soon as well because of their age and low production, as well as the risk of them being siamese twins sharing multiple safeties. The only reactors that might be viable to keep running after 2025, got the go-ahead until 2035 from the current government and could get a permission until 2045 from the new one that's in the making, are Doel 4 and Tihange 3, however... During the recent maintenance of Doel 4 they found issues with the reinforcing of the concrete, and the owners themselves are actually deliberating the worth of the high investment needed to keep Doel 4 running safely and efficiently for at least 10 more years, lowering the chances of Doel 4 to actually run for much longer.
Those "cracks" are in the steel and also ... those are not cracks but micro fissures and have been there since day 1 (during manufacturing) It has also been said that those "flaws" do not impair the safety of the plant! They were discovered during a safety check using a new ultrasonic device and looked like the kind of cracks that would form over time. Of course the press in the whole world jumped on this hot news and scared everyone. It took some time to for the xpert to see that those are actually microfissures that occured during manufacturing and pose no threat at all. Of course, this positive news is not "scary" enough to be diffused by the world press (they only want to give bad news)
@ppdan Call it what you want, it's a defect, doesn't matter if it's a construction error or fatigue, but there's no use in discussing back and forth over this, Doel 3 is permanently shut down.
@@Candisa Read the report, calling it a defect is a bit harsch, that's exactly what the papers want us to believe ... scary news. They tried to sell it as cracks that occured over time while those where only misinterpreted using a new ultrasonic method for inspection.
To add to it: these reactors have probably no more cracks than other similar ones. They only measured more precisely here. As if not a lot of Germany has now regrets about closing all those Nuclear reactors, even the more recent ones. Coal is not better. A complex topic, I know. Good that solar became that cheap and batteries will follow. But they can't solve all.
Fun fact, I learned how to drive here! Back when the roads weren't blocked off, and everything looked more like a town and not barred off, it was the perfect place to learn since it was a time before tourism, but after it's abandonment. Btw, there's actually a slightly slower, but way nicer route to Doel! Also, the metal plates are not to hold people out really. It's more to avoid the glass shards from the windows on the street.
I grew up partly in the village just before the last people left, it was truly a ghost town, we used to wander the villa at the road up until people started to sleep in the abandoned houses... It was fun for a while.
and in a few months, years at most, there will be another government either in Flanders, in Antwerp, or at national level, that reverses course again and decides to tear it down anyway. Not a good investment.
I'm personally of the opinion they'll just let it die a slow death by itself and then turn it into harbour. It's really in the midst of a gigantic industrial area and shouldn't be promoted for living circumstances tbh. Air quality of the surrounding villages is the worst in the country. I'd personally love to see it kept as a green zone, a bit of nature to counter everything around it.
That's the plan, but to be honest I can't imagine it being even close to liveable for a long time. As has been said before, the air quality is terrible, and the soil is probably not much better. Because the village has been forgotten for so long, there's hardly no public transport and the road connection to Antwerp is pretty bad, so it's not really an alternative to Antwerp. And it still looks like that, there is still a lot of refurbishing to do.
Well done. I remember Doel from when it was still a more or less normal village. Over 20 years ago, we went on a school trip to the nuclear power plant
the only reason Doel is empty is the expansion of the Antwerp harbour. Houses were sold publicly for a new harbour dock. That was never carried out. At the moment Doel is inhabited again and the renovation of the village has started.
@Elli_143-w I think, it is a matter of perspective. I feel like it is better in Belgium, then where I am now. Although, I don't know much about this place. So I am biased and lack information.
@Elli_143-w Well.. not exactly. Belgium is actually one of the best places to live in Europe. Has a great economy and financial support, for example, school/college and hospitality. Life here is expensive in a way, sure. but it's actually much better compared to other countries in overall.
I’m loving these videos Matthias. The mixture of ‘travel and learn’ is perfect for me. Hope you keep going and do more. By the way, your English is excellent, and your accent just adds character :-)
it reminds me a bit of the village of Heijplaat, part of the Rotterdam municipality. Actually the only thing it has in common is that it too is a village completely surrounded by port facilities, but it is not abandoned at all.
I actually work at this big company with all the cranes and the blue house used to be the house of a friend of mine. Also at the busgarage a friend of mine used to work, his house was next to it, but it's completely gone.
Matthias, I recently found your channel. Thank you for your excellent content. We would more likely say the church is still in use or in regular use, rather than in operation, which is used more for mechanical work.
My whole family lived there in the 20th century. My dad went to the elementary school and used to play soldier on the dijk with his friends. A lot of my aunts, uncles, and other family members also rest in that cemetery. It makes me so sad that a place with so much history of human lives is as decayed as it is. It still holds so many memories. Thank you for this wonderful and accurate video, you managed to capture the whole vibe of Doel and the somewhat purposeless feeling that hangs in the air very accurately. I wish I would’ve known what it was like back then, when it was still vibrant and full of life.
I live closeby in the municipality of Hulst, just over the border. Also a must visit, Matthias! 😀 Originally I am from Belgium but I migrated to The Netherlands in 2012. I've been to Doel a few times in my life. Grew up in the area. Thanks for talking about it.
I used to go to Doel with my dad often when I was younger, there where a lot of people still living there back then. It's a sad place nowadays due to sad politics
Very nice video! Small note though: Lillo still exists! Admittedly, not a lot of it nor with a large population. Nowadays, you can reach it by public transportation (read: a boat) from Antwerp or by driving through the harbor. It's a wonderful place to walk around during the summer (although you'd mostly be walking the same circle over and over again). It's got a population of around 40-50 people.
If you want to see a similar small village right next to Doel, go visit Lillo. its a weird little village totally surrounded by the same Antwerp harbor. You can catch the ferry towards Antwerp centrum from Lillo.
There's a "similar" city in France : Goussainville (the old city), it became a ghost town because of an airport nearby and the plane noise made many citizen leave before their houses were worthless (and there was a deal with the airport company who bought many houses). But now modern airplanes are quieter so people are slowly coming back.
Yes. And lots of other empty villages all over France (with houses for peanuts) but Goussainville is indeed incredible as there’s so much demand for property in ile de France.
A cousin of mine had bought a farm there , I stayed there often in the time , but the farm and all the barns are gone by now, no way to buy it back ... last time I went there , 5/6 years ago with my old uncle , to see it by ourselves, we were a bit harrassed by private security goons....
zeg wel, eind jaren 80 ben ik aangespoeld in beveren waas, zocht en vond werk in doel, een bruisend dorp met een winkel, restaurants, een bank, een jachthaven, cafe's. heb daar tien jaar rondgehangen, voor na en zelfs tijdens het werk, gaan motorcrossen in opgespoten zand dat ze uit die nieuwgegraven dokken spoten, hele velden spoten ze onder, het eerste tankstation, was een busbedrijf, het tankstation ertegenover, eerst twee pompen, later nog één en een bankontakt terminal , was nog open in '94 doel vijf, het laatste cafe was eerst tegenover de jachthaven, is afgebrand (wat ik hoorde) en daarna verhuist naar waar het nu is/was, ik kende de juffrouw haar ma en tante die het voordien openhielden niet de haven, niet KCD, de verkozen politiekers probeerden hun zakken te vullen en hebben de inwoners jarenlang willen verjagen voor geld ! Erg héél Erg allemaal, bedankt #belgische overheid om een heel dorp in de vernieling te helpen. mvg, andre
Wilmarsdonk church tower survived because it was used as a reference point while building the port expansion. Also, the Oosterweel church survived: it's hidden behind some trees at a roundabout.
I used to work as a security guard in the power plant and I had to visit Doel 2 times by car per shift to make sure there was no trouble. I never understood who in their right mind would live here. In my eyes this is the representation of depression.
The countryside looks beautiful but the dreary weather looks awful. I grew up in the UK and now live in California... the scenery brings back a lot of memories!
Believe it or not, I've never made it to Doel, even though it's just a 20 minute drive away. Props to the people who still call it home - they've been through a lot, RESPECT!
1 note about the nuclear power plant: you are giving a very tendentious view, by following german media. Germans got afraid of it, somehow. Although the necessary technology is mainly German, Siemens for instance.
Ok so small addition it's not that hard to get to doel, the reason you had a bit of a wild ride is because of the route you took. Which is the main route for freight and as such is the route gps will advice. You also don't pass trough any teminals although you passed the edges of dpworld and mpet, two of the largest container terminals in europe. And under a beidge conecting 2 parts of one terminal. Also the "bridge" that was closed is actually one part of a sluis for said massive ships and the signage will always point to the bridge that is down so all you have to do is look at the signs and follow their direction. But yeah you drove near yhe port of anntwerp which together with the ports of amsterdam and rotterdam are the largest in europe(I'm repeating myself but there is a point here somewhere) which explains the massive amounts of trucks and also why you probably had to wait in a traffic jam at multiple points
Haha you stood before the open bridges because you didn't see the big sign that lists which of the 2 bridges is currently open for traffic. (I totally never ever had that happen to me on the exact same spot..)
6:28 This is part of history for most, if not all towns near the Belgian / Dutch (/ Belgian) border, by the way. Substiute Austria-Hungary for Spain if you have to.
Until 1944, "Doel-Dorp" was even the terminus of the SNCV interurban tram line 367 Sint-Niklaas - Doel. (today bus line 31 with one trip per day). The line was never electrified, it was run by classic steam trams and in the last years of operation with diesel tramcars. The once huge network of Belgian interurban trams (max. 5200km) was largely closed down after WWII.
Tiny country with so much unnecessary complications 😅 Indonesia is so huge and real Indonesia is as wide as Russia, Indonesia is the true richest in the entire world, from world's biggest gold reserve, oil and gas are much more than the entire middle east, and so on.. aside world's richest spices and herbs, but very dumb eternal criminals Europe always scam the world including drawing Indonesia too small since Mercator projetion 1569, also claiming the Dutch brought the coffee, while coffee and so many other stuff are native to Indonesia. There are so many criminality the west and middle east has been doing, nothing surprising with your endless karma. The west belong to the medieval and will always be the true poor, real rich will never colonize others, colonization is brainless lowest intelligence action.
I moved here a year ago from the Netherlands and Belgian politics may be less organized but is usually much more humane and adjusted to the needs of the population. In the Netherlands the citizens are 3rd class because corporations and foreign nations come first.
My uncle was in the newspaper a couple of years ago: one of the (prefab)buildings he built years ago.. were just up for grabs, so he rented a crane (he's a craneman by trade) and an18 wheeler and started dismantling the house so he could re-use it later.
As a foreigher, you made a very good rapport on this village (not a town). In my opinion this place can revive again. It SHOULD revive 'cause it has needlessly caused severe problems to the locals who lived there for generations. First: the people who lived there should be able to get their house back with a lot of help to freshen it up. Some plants will welcome them and the streets where they used to work, live and play too. Secondly: let new people get to know the nice history of Doel and if they fit in, they could live there. Warum nicht?
Well actually Doel isn,t abbandoned anymore. It has been reopened. If you like you can buy houses there. The original plans of the expansion of the harbor where cancelled.
I have relatives around an a cousin of mine had a farm there, around yr 2000 they were involved in "doel moet blijven" movements , but the situation was rotten anyway . From my perspective I always found the project a bit bizarre , since I was a kid I visited the harbour like every summer, and it was growing like crazy , every time new terminal , company ... then , in the 1990s I had the impression it stalled a bit . I have the feeling that port expa,sion plans were like wishfull planning for the parties wanting to keep it growing like in the old days , like build it , they will come , but it stalled . And probably refurbishing older docks with more efficiency . Moreover , the port is more than 50km from the see (through NL land aslo) , so for some of the bigger ships i probably becomes more challenging to reach . The fact they reopen the village is probably confirming what was probably foreseeable back then ; it was also a controversial/ political topic. To simplify 'pro industries' were seeing this as a symbol and pushed a lot toward the new docks project , a lot of arguing but nobody actually pointing at what would really happen.. My cousin probably got a better deal selling it's land , i Think about 20yrs ago, than he could have done anyway (and also considering perspective of sea level raising )
What's the problem with the sound? Some people happen to like background noises. Me personally I've always lived either in a city next to a big road with trams or next to that same river with constant ships passing and now next to a big road and under the flight path of one of the 2 military airports with F16's in Belgium. Actually it's quite difficult to find a relatively big village or town in Belgium where you don't have background noise, we're used to it...
You want to know what is problematic with the sound, well it has diverse consequences: - to your ears, they will deteriorate -to your mind, it will be distracted -to your health in general, she will be getting worse with progressing of the time
15:43 " Maybe later, when my sorrow will be replaced with many beautiful memories, I will be able to express in words what I can now only tell with tears."
I'm Belgian, went there and entered with the car. We had a little crew as we were filming a music video. A bit odd of a gloomy town but worth the visit.
Sounds you’ll get used to .. Even living next to a railroad track, gets used to .. So I don’t think the port would be that disturbing, if the town would be back alive!!
My cousin told me about this cool place that was abandoned. We are from the south of the Netherlands so after a small drive we arrived in Doel. We went into as much of the buildings as we could. I still have a lot of footage. Inside some buildings it’s as creepy as it gets. I remember a flooded basement with a floating little girl in the water. After my shock I saw it was a big doll with a dress on. There where used needles and waste of food and drinks in the nastiest places even. Quite the adventure haha.
A whole village to renovate ? That is paradise for Belgians who are "born with a brick in their stomach". Also Belgian construction is usually rather solid so it will take a while before everything really falls to pieces.
Things have changed : the port of Antwerp won't expand on the territory of Doel, so people are allowed to move back. The houses will be renovated. Too bad for the people who had to leave. The politicians responsable for this shamefull disaster got a good job in the European parliament ...
A passed a lot of villages like this in Belgium and never saw a single person.. Not sure is it all inside or what is it? It is really hard to meet people there... Here in Doel I had to load lorry many many times.. It would be only good to live there because of work if you ask me... all the time rain, strong wind and bad smell...😢 I would like to hear opinion from someone who lives there..
How strange that the police monitors a single abondoned building and provide security more then my entire neighborhood. In my street there have been so many break ins and yet police does almost nothing
Iv lived in doel till 15 years ago and thé it was a Fun place to live but i don't know if i ever want to move back there coss pre teen and teen it was Fun coss you could do things there that you could not do in other places but now it's diferent
@ton-m7b driving with Cars under 18 smoke weed on thé street coss there where no cops and going in and out houses.what is diferent now is that i live Alone and thé nearest store is in thé next village but that's 10 km away and feule stations and stuff is thé same there is literly nothing there anymore
You forgetting to mention one important thing , why also lots of ppl left ,....to many ppl getting cancer there , unexplained so called ...from Belgium and I remember those reports , Be blessed all .
Nice Video. Good content. Good information. Journalism that looks at things other than politics, sports or entertainment, or at least from a different angle.
I think the Church refers to a church no longer in use as abandoned, so in this case ‘the church is not abandoned’ would be fine. You could also say the church is ‘still in use’. Or my instinct would be to refer to the church as ‘still in service’, as church services are still provided there. I’m interested in local communities and I enjoyed this, thanks.
great name for a great town😅 only possible in Belgium, the meaning of this town's name may invite meditating one's state of mind being all in all life existence as much as total and beyond🙏
Thanks for watching! Here's more you might like:
▪ The sad last days of a German Ghost Town: th-cam.com/video/WWBgCnRwGqc/w-d-xo.htmlsi=TGJWu6l6rEOKVY7I
▪ Weird border: Is this Germany or the Netherlands? th-cam.com/video/jATA_9A-fWE/w-d-xo.htmlsi=eEzQSYPAWwoCaf2w
▪ Why the Windows XP Meadow no longer exists: th-cam.com/video/-M-6YCHIJtU/w-d-xo.htmlsi=EPBndg7VpSftw4Je
Hat nur mit Belgische Politik zu tun. Habe 35jahre in Antwerpen gewohnt.
1 note about the nuclear power plant: you are giving a very tendentious view, by following german media. Germans got afraid of it, somehow. Although the necessary technology is mainly German, Siemens for instance.
maybe you want to see the video, "terug naar oosterdonk" ;-)
5:11 on the bench it says "doel" and "loos" in graffiti. Doelloos is Dutch for purposeless. Very fitting, it seems
IKR! great buildings
More like “pointless”, I’m guessing in this case. I’m thinking that was the sentiment.
@@Dgnarus well.. Doel already means Purpose in English. So this video explain what the Purpose was for doel.
Quite ironic too
Yeah that was art, especially because it means "absence of" Doel, the people being gone.
And doel with a number is also a nucleair power plant
Hello Matthias, great story again! I lived very close to Doel for several years for work and I'm quite familiar with the village and what happened to it.
As a small correction, the sign at 10:33 says "Wij wonen hier!" which translates to "We live here!", not "Welcome". They probably put up this sign as people entered and trespassed their property without permission because they thought the property was abandoned.
The plan for the harbor was that the village would be torn down and a dock would be built there. Residents of the village were initially offered the estimated resale value of their house +20~25% extra to encourage them to sell their house or property. Many people took the money and moved to towns close by Doel (towns like Kieldrecht, Zandvliet, Verrebroek, Berendrecht, Stabroek..). The people that refused the buy-out and stayed initially got criticized by the government, harbor and contractors for not allowing the expansion to happen. Over time they got sympathy from outside people, as you mentioned, and people started petitions and protests against the removal of Doel. The "Doel 2020" people see themselves as David fighting Goliath.
The people that do still live there are mostly older of age and have lived/worked there their whole life. Most of them worked in the port of Antwerp or companies close or related to the harbor. Nowadays it's not as easy to live there anymore, super markets aren't close enough, there's no school or restaurants.. it must be very tough to still live there.
From the other abandoned towns you mentioned some still exist; Lillo as a town is no longer inhabited but Fort Lillo (very small centre of the town of Lillo) still has residents living there and they have a small bar/café where the residents meet and talk over a beer. It even has a very small pier where residents have their private boats moored.
I read that the goverment changed its mind and the village will stay. So do you think it will be refurbished?
Its selfish to stay when you are offered such a good sum of money that these villagers were done, for once the government was kind.
And they are met with rejection still, this will only encourage government to offer no cash and send in the army and tanks, run your house over, because a few select people think they are better than everyone else. If this story was about the poor villagers being offered poor value, it would be sympathetic, but this is not the case.
@@SMGJohnIt's not about that... It's about the fackt thay lived and worked thare thare hole life, thare soule is engeaved in the touwn... I live at Kieldrecht, a town next to it, and im proud to live at Kieldrecht, if lived thare my hole life, it's about pride, my grandmother walked these Streets, my grandfather helped lay the streedstoned, Stone by Stone... It's about pride and love for your home... Becouse the house is not our home, it's the hole touwn
Hey, I grew up in the village for a while, my uncle owned a property next to the creepy Church next to the school, we used to wander the homes and play around, we never broke anything and never forced entry. Sadly enough after a while of adventurous behaviours people started to come from other towns and places, they would sleep in the buildings and destroy the properties... We really loved the villa with the pool in the back it has auch a 70s feeling, there was also the abandoned pump station with the empty warehouse across the street, Sadly enough more people from outside the town came over and the properties we liked to visit all became destroyed or people just slept in it.
@driesvancleemput4430 not to mention that their whole family is buried next to the church. It's not privileged people cause Doel never had any rich people. Those people mostly worked as laborers in the same harbor that tried to push them out and the government only offered that high payment because they thought that their refusal to go had something to do with money but they refused the money all together!
I loooooove Doel, I live close by in Antwerp. A few times in a year we go there to visit a friend who lives therel. You even filmed his house and car.😁
@@leentemmerman3941 vraagje! Mag je daar metaaldetectie doen? Zou dit zo graag eens doen met een vriend wie weet vinden we hele leuke dingen! Kan je dit eens bevragen? ✌🏽
That port is ridiculously huge. I live close to a big port in the UK, but Antwerp absolutely dwarfs it.
@twohitfever1698 I don't see why that wouldn't be allowed. Best of luck, maybe contact the police beforehand?
It's easy: if it's cheap to get a land or a house there, people will move in.
Yes but most houses are owned by the harbor that wants to destroy the village
@@ReddoFreddo But the government did sign a agreement with those same harbours people that NOTHING is going to be removed. There is a picture on VRT with all the people on the field there listening to the speech of then minister Diependaele, who is now prime minister of Flemish government ;-)
@@hadiamrane If they saw no potential opportunity to expand the harbor at some point in the future by holding on to the land, they would've sold if off already.
@@ReddoFreddo They did ;-). The government already told all the old owners of those houses that they can buy the home back and the government will help those with renovations. It was like a couple of months ago on the news.
Not necessarily. Many Europeans don't like to be car-dependent, so if there are no amenities nearby, they will not move there!
funny i came accros tis video because i am the mailman in doel :)
@@K.V.A.E grappig 😀
how many houses do you think you have to visit there?
@@surferduderocks200 there is about 15 houses that are inhabited atm, but as we speak they are starting to renovate some houses and they are planning to renovate all of them
zwaar werk zeker ? :D
Ha, vaste benoeming zeker. Op sommige plaatsen is België nog steeds dromenland.
Been there a couple of times! In the Netherlands we don’t have much abandoned places so that’s the reason there are a lot of Dutch tourists. It’s the closest abandoned place near the Netherlands.
The ride to Doel is indeed a wild ride haha, last ride I got a flat tire… 😅Anyway cool video and shots, thanks for sharing!
julliez in Nederland leven ook met 5.000.000 mensen meer dan nin Belgiè, daarom zijn er ZEKER geen verlaten dorpe, ohg ja de statushouders in Nederland hebben voorrang op een woning boven de native Nederlander
@@LOSTINRAPTURE de putten in die snelweg zijn echt niet normaal ja
i used to live there ,well done your story is very accurate
the reason no body wants to live there anymore is mostly :if u want anything like fuel a bread or even a cigarette u most travel at least 20 min by car to the nearest village to get something and u get like u said a lot of people good or bad in your garden its not really the safest place to leave your belongings , then calling emergency services at least 30 min ,,,if they want to come .
used to live very happy in the totally overgrown house
I’ve grown up there too. The house I Grew up in was broken down around 7 years ago. I’ve such great memories there, but now I only get emotional when visiting. It’s so Sad how it all went and in the end all for nothing 😢
To be correct: The "cracks" in the nuclear power plant are in the concrete dome around the reactor, so unless there is a meltdown, it's not that bad. Meanwhile this is fixed and Doel3 is back up and running.
Also at 15:42 the white text on the wall reads:
"Later when all the beautiful memories
take place of my sorrow
I could maybe write
what I cannot tell now with my tears"
False. Doel 3 was actually the first reactor to permanently close down in 2022. This was actually decided based on the history with the cracks despite its younger age and higher production. Same goes for Tihange 2, which shut down in 2023.
Doel 1 and 2 will shut down soon as well because of their age and low production, as well as the risk of them being siamese twins sharing multiple safeties.
The only reactors that might be viable to keep running after 2025, got the go-ahead until 2035 from the current government and could get a permission until 2045 from the new one that's in the making, are Doel 4 and Tihange 3, however...
During the recent maintenance of Doel 4 they found issues with the reinforcing of the concrete, and the owners themselves are actually deliberating the worth of the high investment needed to keep Doel 4 running safely and efficiently for at least 10 more years, lowering the chances of Doel 4 to actually run for much longer.
Those "cracks" are in the steel and also ... those are not cracks but micro fissures and have been there since day 1 (during manufacturing)
It has also been said that those "flaws" do not impair the safety of the plant!
They were discovered during a safety check using a new ultrasonic device and looked like the kind of cracks that would form over time. Of course the press in the whole world jumped on this hot news and scared everyone. It took some time to for the xpert to see that those are actually microfissures that occured during manufacturing and pose no threat at all. Of course, this positive news is not "scary" enough to be diffused by the world press (they only want to give bad news)
@ppdan Call it what you want, it's a defect, doesn't matter if it's a construction error or fatigue, but there's no use in discussing back and forth over this, Doel 3 is permanently shut down.
@@Candisa Read the report, calling it a defect is a bit harsch, that's exactly what the papers want us to believe ... scary news. They tried to sell it as cracks that occured over time while those where only misinterpreted using a new ultrasonic method for inspection.
To add to it: these reactors have probably no more cracks than other similar ones. They only measured more precisely here. As if not a lot of Germany has now regrets about closing all those Nuclear reactors, even the more recent ones. Coal is not better. A complex topic, I know. Good that solar became that cheap and batteries will follow. But they can't solve all.
Fun fact, I learned how to drive here! Back when the roads weren't blocked off, and everything looked more like a town and not barred off, it was the perfect place to learn since it was a time before tourism, but after it's abandonment.
Btw, there's actually a slightly slower, but way nicer route to Doel!
Also, the metal plates are not to hold people out really. It's more to avoid the glass shards from the windows on the street.
I grew up partly in the village just before the last people left, it was truly a ghost town, we used to wander the villa at the road up until people started to sleep in the abandoned houses... It was fun for a while.
@@whoareyouyouareclearlylost323 that just makes it extra fun🤣
As it seems the harbor will not be extended there after all, maybe it will be refurbished? It is close to Antwerp, after all.
and in a few months, years at most, there will be another government either in Flanders, in Antwerp, or at national level, that reverses course again and decides to tear it down anyway.
Not a good investment.
I'm personally of the opinion they'll just let it die a slow death by itself and then turn it into harbour. It's really in the midst of a gigantic industrial area and shouldn't be promoted for living circumstances tbh. Air quality of the surrounding villages is the worst in the country. I'd personally love to see it kept as a green zone, a bit of nature to counter everything around it.
That's the plan, but to be honest I can't imagine it being even close to liveable for a long time. As has been said before, the air quality is terrible, and the soil is probably not much better. Because the village has been forgotten for so long, there's hardly no public transport and the road connection to Antwerp is pretty bad, so it's not really an alternative to Antwerp. And it still looks like that, there is still a lot of refurbishing to do.
Well done.
I remember Doel from when it was still a more or less normal village. Over 20 years ago, we went on a school trip to the nuclear power plant
This is an awesome informative video! Underrated channel
The houses in Doel are almost as much filled with graffiti as a random house in Berlin! But not quiet as much, of course.
@@Frahamen huh?
@noidontthinksolol the joke is that in German cities, particularly in Berlin, every possible wall is filled with graffiti and tags.
@@Frahamen there are legal artworks, not graffiti and tags
@@noidontthinksolol there are legal artworks, there is graffiti and tags, there are graffiti and tags on the legal artworks, you got it all.
the only reason Doel is empty is the expansion of the Antwerp harbour. Houses were sold publicly for a new harbour dock. That was never carried out. At the moment Doel is inhabited again and the renovation of the village has started.
7:13 This photo is a beautiful example of an optical illusion. A tiny human being is walking on top of the bench.
Good catch!
lillo actually still stands and is not deserted. It also has a certain pitoresque vibe with the old houses. you can have a beer there :)
Why do I suddenly want to live there?
Trust me… you do not want to live in Belgium lol
@Elli_143-w I think, it is a matter of perspective. I feel like it is better in Belgium, then where I am now. Although, I don't know much about this place. So I am biased and lack information.
@@andrechaos9871 imo Belgium is one of the best places to live in Europe.
@Elli_143-w You can easily find worse places to live than Belgium ... USA???
@Elli_143-w Well.. not exactly. Belgium is actually one of the best places to live in Europe. Has a great economy and financial support, for example, school/college and hospitality. Life here is expensive in a way, sure. but it's actually much better compared to other countries in overall.
Great video. I’m Belgian. Never really visited Doel. But a nephew made a movie series in Flemish: “Terug naar Oosterdonk” about 20 years ago.
I’m loving these videos Matthias. The mixture of ‘travel and learn’ is perfect for me. Hope you keep going and do more. By the way, your English is excellent, and your accent just adds character :-)
I don't hear any accent in the pronunciation of Matthias !
it reminds me a bit of the village of Heijplaat, part of the Rotterdam municipality. Actually the only thing it has in common is that it too is a village completely surrounded by port facilities, but it is not abandoned at all.
@@tjj4656 neejoh ik woon in heijplaat is moderner geworden
In belgie is elk dorp een spookstad van okt tot maart
Great video, you blew my mind with your knowledge 17 minutes in. Good stuff.
I actually work at this big company with all the cranes and the blue house used to be the house of a friend of mine. Also at the busgarage a friend of mine used to work, his house was next to it, but it's completely gone.
Matthias, I recently found your channel. Thank you for your excellent content.
We would more likely say the church is still in use or in regular use, rather than in operation, which is used more for mechanical work.
My whole family lived there in the 20th century. My dad went to the elementary school and used to play soldier on the dijk with his friends. A lot of my aunts, uncles, and other family members also rest in that cemetery. It makes me so sad that a place with so much history of human lives is as decayed as it is. It still holds so many memories. Thank you for this wonderful and accurate video, you managed to capture the whole vibe of Doel and the somewhat purposeless feeling that hangs in the air very accurately. I wish I would’ve known what it was like back then, when it was still vibrant and full of life.
I live closeby in the municipality of Hulst, just over the border. Also a must visit, Matthias! 😀
Originally I am from Belgium but I migrated to The Netherlands in 2012. I've been to Doel a few times in my life. Grew up in the area. Thanks for talking about it.
I used to go to Doel with my dad often when I was younger, there where a lot of people still living there back then. It's a sad place nowadays due to sad politics
Very nice video! Small note though: Lillo still exists! Admittedly, not a lot of it nor with a large population. Nowadays, you can reach it by public transportation (read: a boat) from Antwerp or by driving through the harbor. It's a wonderful place to walk around during the summer (although you'd mostly be walking the same circle over and over again). It's got a population of around 40-50 people.
If you want to see a similar small village right next to Doel, go visit Lillo. its a weird little village totally surrounded by the same Antwerp harbor. You can catch the ferry towards Antwerp centrum from Lillo.
there was a (free) ferry shuttle between doel and lillo , i suppose it 's off by now ...
There's a "similar" city in France : Goussainville (the old city), it became a ghost town because of an airport nearby and the plane noise made many citizen leave before their houses were worthless (and there was a deal with the airport company who bought many houses).
But now modern airplanes are quieter so people are slowly coming back.
Yes. And lots of other empty villages all over France (with houses for peanuts) but Goussainville is indeed incredible as there’s so much demand for property in ile de France.
@@indask8 wasnt that the place where that concord crash was?
So fun update, old residents are allowed to re-buy their house now and move back.
A cousin of mine had bought a farm there , I stayed there often in the time , but the farm and all the barns are gone by now, no way to buy it back ... last time I went there , 5/6 years ago with my old uncle , to see it by ourselves, we were a bit harrassed by private security goons....
Buy back ruins 🤭
Let’s just hope the don’t change their minds again. These guys have had enough uncertainty.
13:19 Curious about the many notice board at the cemetery? The are grave renewal notices.
I am a belgian guy and i found it amazing what you did as an foreign guy. You know more about doel then i do. Thanks 😁👍
zeg wel, eind jaren 80 ben ik aangespoeld in beveren waas, zocht en vond werk in doel, een bruisend dorp met een winkel, restaurants, een bank, een jachthaven, cafe's.
heb daar tien jaar rondgehangen, voor na en zelfs tijdens het werk, gaan motorcrossen in opgespoten zand dat ze uit die nieuwgegraven dokken spoten, hele velden spoten ze onder, het eerste tankstation, was een busbedrijf, het tankstation ertegenover, eerst twee pompen, later nog één en een bankontakt terminal , was nog open in '94 doel vijf, het laatste cafe was eerst tegenover de jachthaven, is afgebrand (wat ik hoorde) en daarna verhuist naar waar het nu is/was, ik kende de juffrouw haar ma en tante die het voordien openhielden niet de haven, niet KCD, de verkozen politiekers probeerden hun zakken te vullen en hebben de inwoners jarenlang willen verjagen voor geld ! Erg héél Erg allemaal, bedankt #belgische overheid om een heel dorp in de vernieling te helpen.
mvg, andre
Wilmarsdonk church tower survived because it was used as a reference point while building the port expansion. Also, the Oosterweel church survived: it's hidden behind some trees at a roundabout.
We do not live in rhe middle ages anymore; there exist instruments to give reference points, even in cars !
Nice shots as usual
I used to work as a security guard in the power plant and I had to visit Doel 2 times by car per shift to make sure there was no trouble. I never understood who in their right mind would live here. In my eyes this is the representation of depression.
Nice report
Driving through the harbour, together with the bridge being open is stuff of nightmares to me already. It's a test of courage on its own.
Absolutely amazing location for urbex photography. It’s like a post apocalyptic place like Fallout but with modern ruins instead
The countryside looks beautiful but the dreary weather looks awful. I grew up in the UK and now live in California... the scenery brings back a lot of memories!
Been there last weekend, amazing and sad at the same time
Believe it or not, I've never made it to Doel, even though it's just a 20 minute drive away. Props to the people who still call it home - they've been through a lot, RESPECT!
i m from belguim and dont knowed this history from doel, thx now i know little more from my own country
1 note about the nuclear power plant: you are giving a very tendentious view, by following german media. Germans got afraid of it, somehow. Although the necessary technology is mainly German, Siemens for instance.
Ok so small addition it's not that hard to get to doel, the reason you had a bit of a wild ride is because of the route you took. Which is the main route for freight and as such is the route gps will advice.
You also don't pass trough any teminals although you passed the edges of dpworld and mpet, two of the largest container terminals in europe. And under a beidge conecting 2 parts of one terminal.
Also the "bridge" that was closed is actually one part of a sluis for said massive ships and the signage will always point to the bridge that is down so all you have to do is look at the signs and follow their direction.
But yeah you drove near yhe port of anntwerp which together with the ports of amsterdam and rotterdam are the largest in europe(I'm repeating myself but there is a point here somewhere) which explains the massive amounts of trucks and also why you probably had to wait in a traffic jam at multiple points
Also a small addition: the "port of Amsterdam" doesn't belong here, this port is a midget aside those of Antwerp and Rotterdam.
lived there with my uncle and brothers, great time I had,
Nobody ever has pronounced it Duel though
Haha you stood before the open bridges because you didn't see the big sign that lists which of the 2 bridges is currently open for traffic. (I totally never ever had that happen to me on the exact same spot..)
How sad such a lovely village is abandoned.
It's really quiet, but also really loud (from the port). So which is it?
6:28 This is part of history for most, if not all towns near the Belgian / Dutch (/ Belgian) border, by the way. Substiute Austria-Hungary for Spain if you have to.
I went there on bike. It was pissing down something fierce. We hid under a half collapsed awning. Best trip of my life.
Until 1944, "Doel-Dorp" was even the terminus of the SNCV interurban tram line 367 Sint-Niklaas - Doel. (today bus line 31 with one trip per day). The line was never electrified, it was run by classic steam trams and in the last years of operation with diesel tramcars. The once huge network of Belgian interurban trams (max. 5200km) was largely closed down after WWII.
You will love Ruigoord in The Netherlands. kinda similar, but more residents.
That’s a border town in northern Belgium tho next to Netherlands that’s nice and then surrounded with river as well on the west and north
It crazy that when this town does dissapear hunrdreds if not more than a thousand years of its history dissapears with it.
7:18 I read the number-plate as 'I CBA"
It's probably the only remaining remote cosy village in this part of Belgium. It might be very popular.
welcome to Belgian politics.
Tiny country with so much unnecessary complications 😅
Indonesia is so huge and real Indonesia is as wide as Russia, Indonesia is the true richest in the entire world, from world's biggest gold reserve, oil and gas are much more than the entire middle east, and so on.. aside world's richest spices and herbs, but very dumb eternal criminals Europe always scam the world including drawing Indonesia too small since Mercator projetion 1569, also claiming the Dutch brought the coffee, while coffee and so many other stuff are native to Indonesia.
There are so many criminality the west and middle east has been doing, nothing surprising with your endless karma.
The west belong to the medieval and will always be the true poor, real rich will never colonize others, colonization is brainless lowest intelligence action.
To Belgistan yes.
Small towns having to make way for large industrial projects is not a "Belgian politics" problem.
I moved here a year ago from the Netherlands and Belgian politics may be less organized but is usually much more humane and adjusted to the needs of the population.
In the Netherlands the citizens are 3rd class because corporations and foreign nations come first.
Not so much politics alone but a combination between politics, law and the public having a say.
Edit. And economics, I almost forgot the main thing.
My uncle was in the newspaper a couple of years ago: one of the (prefab)buildings he built years ago.. were just up for grabs, so he rented a crane (he's a craneman by trade) and an18 wheeler and started dismantling the house so he could re-use it later.
Do you yourself also achieved anything ?
I went here so many times. At night theres a purple glow and electrical buzz in the sky. Was always fun to mess with the security there.
As a foreigher, you made a very good rapport on this village (not a town). In my opinion this place can revive again. It SHOULD revive 'cause it has needlessly caused severe problems to the locals who lived there for generations. First: the people who lived there should be able to get their house back with a lot of help to freshen it up. Some plants will welcome them and the streets where they used to work, live and play too. Secondly: let new people get to know the nice history of Doel and if they fit in, they could live there. Warum nicht?
Cool I totally forgot about that place
Well actually Doel isn,t abbandoned anymore. It has been reopened.
If you like you can buy houses there.
The original plans of the expansion of the harbor where cancelled.
yh theres talk about building new houses and renovating the whole village
I have relatives around an a cousin of mine had a farm there, around yr 2000 they were involved in "doel moet blijven" movements , but the situation was rotten anyway . From my perspective I always found the project a bit bizarre , since I was a kid I visited the harbour like every summer, and it was growing like crazy , every time new terminal , company ... then , in the 1990s I had the impression it stalled a bit . I have the feeling that port expa,sion plans were like wishfull planning for the parties wanting to keep it growing like in the old days , like build it , they will come , but it stalled . And probably refurbishing older docks with more efficiency . Moreover , the port is more than 50km from the see (through NL land aslo) , so for some of the bigger ships i probably becomes more challenging to reach . The fact they reopen the village is probably confirming what was probably foreseeable back then ; it was also a controversial/ political topic. To simplify 'pro industries' were seeing this as a symbol and pushed a lot toward the new docks project , a lot of arguing but nobody actually pointing at what would really happen.. My cousin probably got a better deal selling it's land , i Think about 20yrs ago, than he could have done anyway (and also considering perspective of sea level raising )
Welk Engels wordt hier gebruikt aub ?
What's the problem with the sound? Some people happen to like background noises. Me personally I've always lived either in a city next to a big road with trams or next to that same river with constant ships passing and now next to a big road and under the flight path of one of the 2 military airports with F16's in Belgium. Actually it's quite difficult to find a relatively big village or town in Belgium where you don't have background noise, we're used to it...
You want to know what is problematic with the sound, well it has diverse consequences: - to your ears, they will deteriorate
-to your mind, it will be distracted
-to your health in general, she will be getting worse with progressing of the time
15:43 " Maybe later, when my sorrow will be replaced with many beautiful memories, I will be able to express in words what I can now only tell with tears."
I'm Belgian, went there and entered with the car. We had a little crew as we were filming a music video. A bit odd of a gloomy town but worth the visit.
One bus a day is totaly usseless but fits Belgian standards...
What is the name of the piano song?
In the Netherlands, port of Amsterdam, there is also a small village, Ruigoord. Nowadays has a cultural status. Nice to.look.into
Ruigoord near Amsterdam was doomed to follow the same fate, but somehow survived as a freehaven
Sounds you’ll get used to .. Even living next to a railroad track, gets used to .. So I don’t think the port would be that disturbing, if the town would be back alive!!
My cousin told me about this cool place that was abandoned. We are from the south of the Netherlands so after a small drive we arrived in Doel.
We went into as much of the buildings as we could. I still have a lot of footage. Inside some buildings it’s as creepy as it gets.
I remember a flooded basement with a floating little girl in the water. After my shock I saw it was a big doll with a dress on. There where used needles and waste of food and drinks in the nastiest places even.
Quite the adventure haha.
haha......?
Doel is actualy back open to live, but people who owned a house there in the past have priority to buy their house ( land) back at a discount
A whole village to renovate ? That is paradise for Belgians who are "born with a brick in their stomach". Also Belgian construction is usually rather solid so it will take a while before everything really falls to pieces.
Things have changed : the port of Antwerp won't expand on the territory of Doel, so people are allowed to move back. The houses will be renovated. Too bad for the people who had to leave. The politicians responsable for this shamefull disaster got a good job in the European parliament ...
A passed a lot of villages like this in Belgium and never saw a single person.. Not sure is it all inside or what is it? It is really hard to meet people there... Here in Doel I had to load lorry many many times.. It would be only good to live there because of work if you ask me... all the time rain, strong wind and bad smell...😢 I would like to hear opinion from someone who lives there..
How strange that the police monitors a single abondoned building and provide security more then my entire neighborhood. In my street there have been so many break ins and yet police does almost nothing
Actually, Doel is not completely abandoned. there are still a few families who live there and keep an eye on everything
Perfectly atmospheric Belgian rain.
as somoene who lives in belgium. how did i not know this
By the distraction of social media perhaps ?!
Correction at 10:34 i think the sign says "wij wonen" or "wij wonen hier" which translates to "we live here" 😉
Wacht maar, over een paar jaar is Doel trending om te wonen.
Vroeger was de Jordaan een achterbuurt. Nu wonen er Yuppen en de huizenprijzen skyhigh!
Again nice video! It comes to show how ridiculously absurd my country is! One thing is a certainty... money evaporates here!
Iv lived in doel till 15 years ago and thé it was a Fun place to live but i don't know if i ever want to move back there coss pre teen and teen it was Fun coss you could do things there that you could not do in other places but now it's diferent
What kind of things and what is different now ?
@ton-m7b driving with Cars under 18 smoke weed on thé street coss there where no cops and going in and out houses.what is diferent now is that i live Alone and thé nearest store is in thé next village but that's 10 km away and feule stations and stuff is thé same there is literly nothing there anymore
When I went, we saw a car that crashed against the barrels...
Duel is a beer brand as well.
Looks like a perfect place to play some post apocalyptic game
You forgetting to mention one important thing , why also lots of ppl left ,....to many ppl getting cancer there , unexplained so called ...from Belgium and I remember those reports ,
Be blessed all .
Lmao not the ketatek sticker at the entrance 😅
Nice Video. Good content. Good information. Journalism that looks at things other than politics, sports or entertainment, or at least from a different angle.
I remember visiting Doel in better times.
I think the Church refers to a church no longer in use as abandoned, so in this case ‘the church is not abandoned’ would be fine. You could also say the church is ‘still in use’. Or my instinct would be to refer to the church as ‘still in service’, as church services are still provided there.
I’m interested in local communities and I enjoyed this, thanks.
22:25 no I just hear only the chirping birds
Dit is nou wat je noemt serieus en Doelgericht onderzoek!!!
great name for a great town😅 only possible in Belgium, the meaning of this town's name may invite meditating one's state of mind being all in all life existence as much as total and beyond🙏