Siska Mill

Zevenkote z.nr. Mill of Siska, protected as a monument by ministerial decree of 15/10/2003. Zevenkote is a 19th-century neighbourhood along the road between Oosthoek and the Graaf Jansdijk, built up with a dozen small posts (at one point seven, which explains the name). The main landmark of the hamlet was the alom mill with accompanying inn of Siska. Siska or Franciska Fincent (1842-1918) was an important impetus for tourism in Knokke with her famous waffles.
In 1863, Franciscus Defonseca, Siska's first husband, built a wooden windmill and miller's house annex inn in the Zevenkote district, along what is now Paulusstraat. Franciskus died in 1872, after which Siska remarried in 1874 to miller's helper Felix Vandeputte, who died after a few years. The widow takes over the inn in the miller's house and turns it into a thriving business, with heart-shaped waffles as her trademark. In 1892, the great fame of the waffle house was initiated. In that year, Ko (Jacobus) Fincent was elected alderman of Knokke, which was celebrated in the inn of Siska, who baked her waffles for the first time on this occasion. This party, with many guests from outside Knokke, led to the breakthrough of Siska's inn, which received numerous tourists from then on. At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, the inn was an important tourist attraction, located outside the then developing Knokke-Bad. Its fame extends beyond the First World War.
Illustrative of the success of the waffle house is the fact that the steam tram from Knokke to the Netherlands has a stop at Siska; The steam tram ran there from 1929 to 1943.
The inn itself, located along the Paulusstraat, was demolished in the middle of the 20th century. The tradition of Siska's famous waffles is continued in three outhouses in the area, which were built by descendants of Siska. The first annex, the so-called "Kinders Siska" at Oosthoekplein no. 1, dates from 1907. The other two are located in the Zoutelaan: no. 177, "Marie Siska", formerly known as "Bij de dochter Siska" was founded in 1919, no. 229/ Oosthoekplein, "Gustave Siska" was founded in 1924.
What is still preserved in the original place is the well-known "Mill of Siska" or "Oosthoekmolen". This mill became the landmark of the inn, cf. the many postcards depicting Siska. The current stone mill was built in 1902-1904 to replace the wooden stake mill, which was blown over in 1901. The stone mill was built by Siska's third husband, Louis Devos, who was the son of the miller on the Kalf (the mill of Het Kalf is protected as a monument). The new mill will be built fifty meters further west, to make room for the numerous customers that Mother Siska received.
It is a groundsailer, which is built on a small 'mote', with a brick, conical cockpit. The windows and the entrance door are one above the other, are covered in a round-arched manner and have sills of Boom tiles.
After the death of miller-baker Louis Devos in the 1920s, the mill was sold and lost its proper function.
At that time, Knokke was developed into a busy tourist resort, which is traditionally visited by many artists. Prestigious holiday homes are being built in the subdivision of Het Zoute, and tourists also come to stay elsewhere in Knokke, in the even more rural area. In this context, Siska's mill was converted into a house in 1925; It was at this time that the brick mill was painted white. After the Second World War, the mill was inhabited for a while by the well-known painter Felix Labisse, who, like many other artists, sought the peace and quiet of the still partly rural, idyllic Knokke. In the meantime, the mill has lost its sails and interior and in 2002 is still furnished as a holiday home, included in a late 20th-century residential area that was built near the former hamlet of Zevenkote.

Sven