John Cockerill

The first steam locomotive built in Belgium left the workshops of John Cockerill in Seraing at the end of December 1835.

The Vesdre River became best known for its heavy flooding in the summer of 2021, but it also brought wealth and industry to Verviers and the surrounding area. Since the Middle Ages, the wool industry flourished in the towns along the Vesder.

On the Luxemburgplein in Ixelles, you will come across the John Cockerill Monument. In 1872, a year after his statue was unveiled in Seraing, Willem Rau, Cockerill's loyal right-hand man, took the initiative to donate a statue to Brussels.

John Cockerill (and the rest of his family) propelled Belgium, the Netherlands, Prussia and France into the era of the Industrial Revolution in the early 19th century. A few decades after Cockerill's death, a monument honoring the 'father of the workers' was unveiled in the streets of Seraing.

The Cockerill family's tomb in the Spa cemetery pales into insignificance compared to the monument that adorned the family grave for a century.

The Prince-Bishop's Palace of Seraing hides the former workshops of the Cockerill company.