Available LanguagesLanguage En Kortrijk - Remains of the Flax spinning mill ‘De Kien’Next to it, a last reminder of the first flax spinning mill of Kortrijk has been changed into lofts and offices, in an almost unrecognisable way. In 1865-1866 Boutry-Van Isselsteyn & Cie, textile dealers from Lille (France), established a modern flax spinning mill in Kortrijk, which was also the first one South-West-Flanders. It was during this period, after the sharp rise in prices of cotton as a result of the American Civil War (1861-1865) that flax spinning and weaving companies again could compete with the large-scale cotton factories. In 1884, the company was taken over by the director Léonard De Kien. Together with his son George and Maurice Ide, he expanded the buildings strongly. At the beginning of the last century there was a lot of foul with the working conditions in the company De Kien. The complex could be a memorial of the Kortrijk workers' movement. In 1909, trade union secretary Joseph Coole published a critical article, "De Vlasslaven van De Kien" (the flax slaves of De Kien), which promptly brought him to trial by De Kien. He was sentenced to six months in prison. In his article he complained that the patron - who was also chairman Kortrijk Chamber of Commerce - foiled with the payment of the number of pieces produced. The result was a week-long strike, the first big strike in the region ... Gallery:
Typology: Walk Travel time: 3 h Route Difficulty: Easy Places to visit Alternative activities Hotel and Restaurantes Places to visitAlternative activities Hotel and Restaurantes Alternative Activities Menen - Brewer’s House Les Trois Rois Wevelgem - Old workshop op Eugène Baekelandt Kortrijk - The Buda Island & Factory Menen -The Tobacco factory Kortrijk - Europaspinnerij Menen - French custom house Wevelgem - The ‘Groot Volander’ flax farm Kortrijk - The Texture-museum Kortrijk - Remains of the Flax spinning mill ‘De Kien’ Menen - Old Leie and new Leie Comines - The Railway station Wevelgem Airport Kortrijk - Tuileries du Littoral Wervik - Brieken-windmill Kortrijk - Soetens Molen Menen - Saint Johns Mill Flax retting and scutching site D’hondt at Menen Bissegem - centre of flax retting and scutching Kortrijk railway station and the new town planning Wervik - National Tobacco Museum Menen - The old ‘new’ locks Bousbecque - Paper mill Dalle & Lecompte Kortrijk - The Banque de Courtrai Menen - Windmill ‘De Goede Hoop’ Kortrijk - Blanchisserie de Courtrai Place to visit Comines Comines - Musée de la Rubanerie Cominoise Wervik Kortrijk - Texture, museum over Leie en vlas Kortrijk Menen Wevelgem EXPLORE THE STAGES OF THE ITINERARY Day 1Day 2Day 3Day 4Day 5Day 1Day 2Day 3Day 4Day 5 day 1 day 2 day 3 day 4 day 5 Every dayDay 1Day 2Day 3Day 4Day 5 Apply