Zwijndrecht (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈzʋɛindrɛxt] ⓘ) is a former municipality located in the Flemish province of East Flanders, in Belgium.

"Drifti" evolved from dhreghi>drigti>dricht to drecht; the suffix –drecht appears frequently in place-names north of the river Scheldt, where streams and creeks are abundant.

In the early Middle Ages, Zwijndrecht-Burcht was sparsely populated, its landscape consisting mainly of wet woodland and small settlements separated by forests.

This situation remained until the latter half of the 11th century, when an increase in population necessitated changes in land use: the forests between settlements were cleared and fields were formed into communal agricultural spaces, using a three-course crop rotation system.

The seat of the Lords of Zwijndrecht was a manor house called the Kraaienhof (the ruins of which were demolished in the mid-20th century), which was located in what is now the village of Burcht.

Due to financial pressures, the heir Filips II de Montmorency, Count of Horne (1524-1568) was forced to sell the title, property and rights to a conglomeration of four cities, Brugge, Gent, Ieper and the Brugse Vrije, known as the "Vier Leden" (four members).

The dikes and infrastructure were so badly damaged and neglected during the Eighty Years War, that the Vier Leden were forced to loan money for repairs and restoration from Jan van Hove.

After regaining the property, the Staten van Vlaanderen promptly auctioned it off to the highest bidder, an Italian businessman named Jacomo Antonio Carenna, who then became Lord of Zwijndrecht and Burcht.

It passed by inheritance through his daughter Anne Marie de Lannoy to his son-in-law, Daniel Gerardo Melijn in 1732.

Daniel Malijn's heir was also a daughter, Anna Marie Isabella Melijn, and therefore her husband Louis Balthasar de Heuvel became Lord of Zwijndrecht.

However, before the case could be resolved, the French Revolution and the resultant dissolution of feudal rights and titles made their legal conflict moot.

The fertile land in Borgerweert (part of Burcht) was filled in with dredged slurry from the river Scheldt to accommodate the building of factories.

[10] The 3M factory located in Zwijndrecht has caused toxic levels of PFOS pollution that is expected to impact agriculture in a 15 kilometers radius.