From vast wilderness to rural municipality - short version

‘In the quiet Kempen on the purple heath’, every resident of Kempen knows this line from the song by Armand Preud’homme. The purple heath has largely been replaced by meadows and maize fields, the sandy roads by asphalt and concrete, and the clay houses by tall brick buildings. Falconry has been exchanged for pigeon sports, and peregrine falcons now only reside in the church tower. The quiet endlessness of the landscape no longer exists, but walking here remains a pleasure. With the map of De Ferraris as your guide, you stroll through the village center along the old ’s Heerenstraat and recognize here and there a building from that time. During this walk, you search for traces of the old crafts of Arendonk: the falconers, weavers, stocking makers, marginal farmers, shepherds, and cigar makers. You see the old wood edges, which had to keep the animals from the hay fields.

De Ferraris wrote that Arendonk had nothing remarkable, except for the monastery of the Franciscan sisters, which you see at the end of your journey. Was he right?