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Den Hoorn
Around 1900, a tramway was constructed between Bruges and Aardenburg. This tram served mainly for the transport of beets and coals. There used to be a station in the village on the place where now the church is situated. In 1943, the tram was replaced by a bus.
Agriculture has always been the main source of revenue here, outside the village center there are still some old farms. In the village itself you can see some beautiful typical workers houses. Worth seeing: pilgrimage church St.-Rita to:
overview map / map
of Den Hoorn
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In
the Middle Ages this village lay by the sea. The name "Den
Hoorn" probably originates from a sand-bank that lay here. This
shallow was horn-shaped (in Flemisch horn means "hoorn"). The
name of the "Damweg" comes from a dike, or dam, that was constructed
here to protect the land from floods. This dam was the extension of the
"Branddijk", which was already mentioned in 1360. The
village itself lies at only a few meters above sea-level, so there were a lot of
creeks here. Most of these creeks have dissapeared in the course of
time. The name of the "Groenestraat" (Greenstreet) originates
from a farm which was called the "Groene Hoeve" (Green farm). In
this farm the Flemish assembled in 1302 to set the French 
On
the junction of the Damweg and the road to 
At
the end of the Second World War, both parties fiercely battled in the canal area
of the Schipdonk- and Leopoldcanal. German troops, on this side of the
canals, constructed a large number of bunkers and heavy artillery was placed on
several farms in the area. Most of these bunkers have been demolished
after the war, but still there are some that remain. In 1944, the bridges
over the canals were blown up, so that the hamlet Den Hoorn was cut off from the
parish church in 
A
first emergency church was built in 1946, it consisted mainly out of
material that was left behind by the German occupator. In 1947, Den Hoorn
becomes an independent parish, with Saint-Rita as patron saint. A second
temperary church was built in 1960. The construction of the present church
commenced in 1975, consecrated by the bishop of Bruges in 1977. This
church was built by voluntary villagers, under guidance of their priest, Mr.
Ackaert. The show-of-piece of the church is without any doubt the madonna
(not the singer!!) statue, brought from Poland by the priest, Mr. Ackaert.
Nowadays, the church is a well-known pilgrimage place. Each year, the
church wellcomes thousands of pilgrims.
Den
Hoorn is a peaceful country village, but not so lang ago, some villagers had a
dangerous accessory revenue: smuggling. The village lies close to the
Dutch border, which made it an ideal base for this clandestine trade. The
smuggling goods varied from butter to living cows. They didn't have a lack
of creativity, the smugglers. Animals were transported in the trunks of
cars, calfs were even dressed up and disguised with a large hat and put in the
front of the car to mislead the border patrols. This
"trade" was certainly nothing for the fearful. The police was
authorized to shoot smugglers if necessary, several were emprisoned for their
actions. This activity reached its peak in the 50's and 60's of the last
century. One of the most interesting cycling routes of the region is
called "de Smokkelroute" (the smuggling route).