Learning route Waalwijk | Made in Brabant
With this 30-kilometer bicycle route, you will discover a lot about the leather and shoe industry in the municipality of Waalwijk. Start from the bustling center of Waalwijk in the direction of Sprang-Capelle and Waspik and then cycle back along the Halve Zolenpad. Various audio clips let you experience what can be seen along the way. They tell more about the rich history of the Langstraat, the entrepreneurship and innovative strength of then and now. Craftsmanship is central to this Made in Brabant route. Something that still makes Waalwijk and its surroundings a world-class player today.
Visit The Langstraat
In the early 19th century, region D...
With this 30-kilometer bicycle route, you will discover a lot about the leather and shoe industry in the municipality of Waalwijk. Start from the bustling center of Waalwijk in the direction of Sprang-Capelle and Waspik and then cycle back along the Halve Zolenpad. Various audio clips let you experience what can be seen along the way. They tell more about the rich history of the Langstraat, the entrepreneurship and innovative strength of then and now. Craftsmanship is central to this Made in Brabant route. Something that still makes Waalwijk and its surroundings a world-class player today.
Visit De Langstraat
In the early 19th century, De Langstraat region grew into the center of the shoe and leather industry. This route goes partly over the Halve Zolenpad, a beautiful bike path over the former freight railroad line between Lage Zwaluwe and 's-Hertogenbosch. You cycle past old shoe factories, former tanneries, workers' cottages and other souvenirs of the rich shoemaking past. And there is much more to do in this versatile region. At www.bezoekdelangst raat.nl you will find fun outings, more beautiful hiking and biking routes, natural areas, stores, galleries and restaurants.
About this route
This bicycle route was created by VisitBrabant Route Bureau. The route is plotted via the Brabant cycling junction system. Simply cycle from one numbered node to another. Arrows show you the way between the nodes. Is there something wrong with the route signposting? Report it to us at visitbrabant.com/reportpoint. You can also call 0800-4050050 (free of charge).
Made in Brabant routes
Brabant: the creative engine of the Netherlands. As much as 24% of what the Dutch produce in the manufacturing industry is still made in Brabant. Old crafts, industrial heritage, but also innovative high-tech companies can be found in many places in the province, each with its own special story. From old crafts like leather tanning and beer brewing to large multinationals and smaller creative entrepreneurs: Brabant has it all. We combine beautiful nature with (old) industries to typical Brabant cycling and walking routes. Check them all out.
You are going to see this
Town Hall Square 1
5141 KG Waalwijk
Schoenenkwartier: museum, shoe lab and knowledge center
Raadhuisplein 15141 KG Waalwijk
Audio clip: From smelly skins to Van Haren
Beluister dit fragment tussen knooppunt 8 en 18Waalwijk
Audio clip: From handcraft to steam power
Beluister dit fragment tussen knooppunt 12 en 134944 AT Raamsdonk
Statue "Mother and Child"
Burgemeester van de Klokkenlaan 495141 EG Waalwijk
Royal Steam Shoe Factory A.H. van Schijndel
Stationsstraat 1155141 GD Waalwijk
Audio clip: From necessity to pride
Beluister dit fragment tussen knooppunt 15 en 10Waalwijk
Town Hall Square 1
5141 KG Waalwijk
Description
Town Hall Square 1
5141 KG Waalwijk
After a weekend of work, 21-year-old Sanne Schoenmakers bicycles back to school on Monday morning. Just her final assignment and then her senior year will be complete, but what will she choose as an assignment? It has to be about innovation. At home, she starts looking for inspiration for a theme that suits her. In the attic of her parents' house, she finds a book she hasn't seen before: "Shoemaker, stick to your last" is the title. Sanne laughs out loud when she utters the words. "This is on the mark, this can't be a coincidence." When she opens the book, she recognizes her grandfather's handwriting. He always worked in a shoe factory, she knew, everyone did back then. However, the book goes back much further, his father and also his grandfather already worked with leather and shoes. So apparently it is in her blood, this must be it. Sanne puts the book in her bag, jumps on her bike and rides to Grandpa. Maybe he can tell something about innovation in the shoe and leather industry?
As she steps in through the kitchen door, she hears Grandpa calling from the garden. There he stands with his bicycle in hand, ready to go for a ride. If she rides along, he can not only tell her something, but even show her. They start from Waalwijk and soon cycle through nature. "That nature with its clear water and oak bark was at the base of the leather industry in the Langstraat," Grandpa says. He goes on to tell Sanne that they didn't used to have it easy; these were uncertain times in which they lived. One factory after another in the neighborhood closed its doors and wages were very low. You had to make do with what you had.
It once began with tanning pits in everyone's farmyard and led to many shoemakers and even large steam shoe factories. Eventually, one out of three Waalwijk residents worked in the shoe industry, which had grown so large that a train track was built, known as the 'Halvezolenlijntje', to move the large quantities of leather, shoes and workers. "First one track, then the other half, that was the plan," Grandpa says. The industry has visibly left many traces as guardhouses, factory buildings and bike paths, but even in the people of the Langstraat today you can still see the creativity and innovativeness.
Town Hall Square 1
5141 KG Waalwijk
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