East Flanders

Flannel sheets, cotton pyjamas and shirts from textile company De Porre flew to all corners of the world, ending up in chic boutiques because De Porre guaranteed high quality cotton.

The Waasland was once a hotbed of shipyards. However, the last active shipyard, the Chantier Naval de Rupelmonde, closed its doors in 1996.

The Dender River takes you from an industrial landscape in Aalst full of textile mills, malthouses and silos to a green oasis dominated by drawbridges and locks.

During the First World War, the German army erected a high-voltage barrier of over three hundred kilometres from Knokke to the Three-Country Point near Aachen: the Wire of Death.

The Koppenberg in the Flemish Ardennes is not only the setting of the Tour of Flanders but also forms the background of railway line 85 between Leupegem and Herseaux near the French border.

In the 1960s, Flanders had its first steel factory along the Ghent-Terneuzen canal. There, Sidmar (Sidérurgie Maritime) rose from the ground. Today, it is the home of the only active blast furnaces in Belgium.

The Industrial Revolution is not only the story of coal and steel, but also of the mechanization of the textile industry. In 1779, the English inventor Samuel Crompton built the Mule Jenny, a semi-automatic machine which spun yarn.

The Brothers of Charity built a new institution and school complex in Zwijnaarde around 1830, specifically with the Medical Pedagogical Institute Sint-Jozef.

An old railway embankment along the Scheldt has revealed its secrets since the beginning of this century. Not only was it transformed into a miniature nature reserve, but you will also find references to the railway past.