Lijsterstraat and sawmill Van Autgaerden

This street takes us via the footpath to Troosterveld and the former center of Blanden, the Rooikapelhoeve. The sawmill on Lijstersstraat stopped operating in 2013. The Vanautgaerden family had been running a timber trade and sawmill there since 1918, succeeding the Cristens family. This sawmill is the last witness of Blanden as a woodland village. A part of the land is being developed for new housing (Lijstershof). Until the mid-20th century, besides farmers, there were quite a few people in Blanden who earned their living in forestry. The Binon family, who lived in the Namur, was also a family of timber merchants. In the past along Lijstersstraat, people referred to it as the 'Hutselgat,' the place where one came from the forest into open fields and was 'shaken' by the wind. 'Hutselen' meant shaking, stirring up Château.

erfgoed hhh