Regional Museum of the Southern Kempen

In 1970 the late Frans Verrezen started collecting old alam, which someone invariably calls 'aa bullen', but genealogists are fascinated by everything to do with 'the past'. Heemkring Ansfried built the old presbytery (1757) into 'the regional museum of the Zuiderkempen'.

A pleasant feature is 'the inn'. That word was in common use in our region until 1920. Then 'staminee' came into vogue after the French 'estaminet' and only from the 1960s did the younger generation begin to use the word 'café'. In this room, objects have been gathered from the years 1800 to 1930, so we should correctly speak of 'inn'. The volunteers of heemkring Ansfried keep it open by rotation on summer Sunday afternoons.

They have regional beers there on the list such as Flierefluiter. The Antwerpers proclaimed that word the most beautiful Antwerp dialect word, while Peter Vissers' beer of that name had already existed in Westerlo for ten years. The people of Antwerp should come more to what they call "the parking lot."

You can not only visit the inn on Sunday afternoon and consume something; you can also sit on the terrace in the courtyard and visit several rooms of the presbytery full of nostalgic objects.

🕑 2 hours
📍 Sint Michielsstraat 2, 2260 Oevel-Westerlo