Former shiny factory of Napoleon Rinskopf

Here in this area was the shoe polish factory of Napoleon Rinskopf located. The exact location is still difficult to ascertain. Here, shoe polish, varnish, washing powder, copper polish, and ink were produced. The establishment Napoleon Rinskopf was founded in 1889 by the grandfather or father of the later mayor Robert Rinskopf. This business was a continuation of the empire that this Jewish family had built up on the Kwaadham in Ghent. The company Napoleon Rinskopf was already established in the 19th century. Regarding the production techniques of the shoe polish factory in the 19th century, it is somewhat speculative. But since shoe creams were only invented around the turn of the century, we assume that in 1889 shoe grease was made through the saponification of fatty acids and the purification of sulfuric acid. In 1914, a request was submitted for an increase in the amount of flammable and hazardous products. Specifically, the storage of up to 500 liters of methanol alcohol, 5,000 liters of turpentine, 500 liters of petroleum, gasoline, and white spirit, 5,000 liters of oleine, 1,500 kilograms of vaseline, and 3,000 liters of unspecified oils was increased. During the interwar period, the company grew even stronger and there was insufficient storage space. Therefore, Robert Rinskopf sold the buildings on Kerkstraat to his neighbor, the Clouterie et Tréfilerie des Flandres, and purchased a property on the Oude Brusselse Steenweg.

Dromos