Jacob Lodewijk Gerard Walschap was born on July 9, 1898 in Londerzeel Sint-Jozef. His birthplace stands in the shadow of the church tower of Londerzeel St. Joseph and diagonally across from the rectory. After three years of kindergarten with "mère Beatrix" and 5 years of primary education at the municipal boys' school (now Community Center Gerard Walschap), he went to the Klein Seminarie in Hoogstraten. He completed his humanities at the College of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in Asse. Priest-poet Jan Hammenecker was appointed as assistant pastor in Londerzeel Sint-Jozef in 1913 and a close friendship quickly developed between Gerard Walschap and the assistant pastor. In 1917, Gerard began his priestly studies, which he interrupted in 1921. In 1924, he definitively left his birthplace and settled in Antwerp.

After the publication of - according to Walschap himself - a few insignificant poetry collections, the real literary breakthrough came in 1929 with the novel Adelaïde, which caused a shockwave in Flanders. From then on, everything went crescendo, and with the appearance of new novels, literary awards multiplied. His masterpieces included "Celibate" (1934), "A Man of Good Will" (1936), "Houtekiet" (1931), "Sister Virgilia" (1951), and many others.

In 1940, the break with the church and faith, which had actually been simmering for many years, was made public in the pamphlet "Farewell then." From the late 1930s, Gerard Walschap was recognized and honored as one of the greatest novelists in the Dutch-speaking region.

In 1968, he was awarded the most prestigious literary prize: “Prince of Dutch Literature,” which was presented to him by H. M. Queen Juliana of the Netherlands. Gerard Walschap is undoubtedly the most decorated Flemish author. The Royal Flemish Academy nominated him multiple times as a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. In 1982, he was granted honorary citizenship in Londerzeel.

On October 25, 1989, the author passed away in Antwerp, and the urn with his ashes was interred at the honorary park of the cemetery Schoonselhof. On the occasion of the commemoration of his 100th birthday, Londerzeel declared 1998 as Gerard Walschap Year. For this occasion, a bike route was mapped out. Since his birthplace frequently appears in his works as the setting where his characters are born, live, and die, several of these locations were included in this marked Houtekiet bike route. Initially, the start of the route was at Gerard Walschap Square in Londerzeel St. Joseph. The 2008 edition of this route starts and ends in Leireken.

In the wake of Gerard Walschap… departs from Leireken via the Leirekens route, heading towards Londerzeel.