Café Voskens (a.k.a. Café De Roskam)

In the past, if you arrived at the Heuvel (nowadays Korte Heuvel) from Oisterwijk or 's-Hertogenbosch, you could immediately have your horse and yourself taken care of in the tavern of the Voskens family, founded in 1797. It is doubtful whether it already bore the name 'De Roskam' at that time. On the other side of the city in the Schijf there was a well-known inn of the same name. It would be demolished in 1828 for the construction of the Bredaseweg. Almost at the same time (in 1827) the Bosscheweg was also completed, which took over the function of the main connection to 's-Hertogenbosch from the Oisterwijksebaan. This made little difference to Voskens' tavern, because it was located exactly at the junction where the old and the new road met. The original tavern burned down completely in 1900. It took until 1909 before a beautiful new café 'De Roskam' was built. In popular parlance, however, the establishment continued to be called 'Voskens'. The last member of the family, Engelien, ran the business with a firm hand. This approach was probably chosen by her as the best possible line of defense against the reputation of her most important clientele: students, journalists, artists and anyone who wanted to pass for it. Today, it houses a restaurant.

Historische Routes