The Genever Drinker

The Jeneverdrinker is a bronze statue that depicts the life story of the Kerkskenaar. The Venetian mask and the crown refer to the annual Epiphany celebrations that have been celebrated for decades. The shooting spool is a link to the economic past. The weaving school and small weaving factories, established in the previous century, provided social progress. The jenever bottle was difficult to eliminate from the daily life of the average villager.

It was the people of Aalst who first used the nickname 'Jeneverdrinkers' at the end of the 19th century. After the labor strike in 1897 at the Smits weaving mill, the weavers would weekly travel to the Ajuinenstad with the pushcart to sell their woven pieces. Loaded with jenever, they returned. The pushcart, renamed the 'jeneverkar', supplied Kerksken weekly with its favorite drink.

Lokaal Bestuur Haaltert