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Heritage Stories

Heritage Stories

Joe Pancho in his studio on Schippersstraat, 1976 - MAS, Antwerp - dams.antwerpen.be

Professor Tattoo Joe Pancho

One of the first tattoo parlors in Belgium was Joe Pancho’s, which opened in 1943 on Schippersstraat in Antwerp. He was from Chicago and had several nicknames: Professor Tattoo, Sailor Pancho … It was no coincidence that his shop was located in Antwerp’s harbor district. Public opinion associated tattoos

Lang-Levenstraat in Ixelles, home to many African restaurants - Hemis/Alamy Stock Photo

Matonge

Matonge is a bustling neighborhood in Ixelles, bordering the Brussels Pentagonal District. It covers just a few streets and has been associated with the Congolese diaspora since the 1950s. But why do relatively few people of Congolese, Rwandan, or Burundian descent actually live in Belgium? Why are there

Chief of Otegoowgoow, son of a New Zealand tribal chief, Thomas Chambers (after Sydney Parkinson), 1773 - The Royal Society, London

Polynesian tattoos

In the late 19th century, a man from Samoa, an island in Polynesia, was in Brussels when he died of measles. The ULB’s medical school preserved his tattooed skin as a study specimen and a curiosity. (Today, there is a debate over whether it is ethical to continue to keep such human remains)

A branding iron from the Rasphuis prison in Ghent, 18th century - © Historic Houses of Ghent, Gravensteen Collection

Regine Beer's Auschwitz Tattoo

Many human societies used permanent, involuntary body markings to identify and exclude people. In ancient Greece and Rome, slaves or prisoners of war had marks branded or tattooed onto their bodies. In Japan during the Edo period (1603–1868), criminals were punished using the irezumi kei: murderers were

Engraving depicting a view of Herkenrode Abbey, by Remacle Leloup, ca. 1740 – Het Stadsmus, Hasselt

Fish on Friday

For centuries, the Catholic Church and the fishing industry have had a strong connection. Fishing was a dangerous profession, and fishermen often sought solace in their faith. Coastal residents, for example, frequently prayed to Mary, whom they called Our Lady of the Dunes. Conversely, the Church itself was actively involved in fish farming. This was certainly true of

The Cloth Hall of Ypres in a 16th-century woodcut - Ypres Museum

Weaving Prosperity

In the Middle Ages, one economic sector in particular drove the growing prosperity of Flemish cities such as Ypres, Bruges, and Ghent: the cloth industry. Wool was needed to make cloth. Initially, most of this wool came from sheep in the coastal region. Starting in the 12th century, the textile industry grew so large that

Stained-glass window depicting fishermen on horseback at sea, Frans van Immerseel, 1909–1978 – NAVIGO National Fisheries Museum – artinflanders.be, photo by Dominique Provost

Fishing with horses

In Oostduinkerke, you can witness a unique spectacle in the spring and fall. Around low tide, fishermen ride Brabant draft horses out into the waves. Along the coastline, they catch kilos of delicious shrimp with their trawl nets. Shrimp fishing, or “kruien,” has been practiced along the