Prehistory: Vansteenkiste Foundry and Workshops

For the actual start of the company we must go back to the year 1928. West-Flanders has always been known for its flax production and if we look closely at the history of the flax industry, we regularly come across the name ‘Vansteenkiste’, probably the most prestigious name in Picanol’s prehistory. The brilliant inventor Constant Vansteenkiste (1869-1948) from Wevelgem stood at the basis of the industrialisation process of Flanders' flax processing industry. His brother Jozef (1879–1943), who was an engineer, turned Constant’s ideas into practical instruments. After WWI, Constant Vansteenkiste spent some time abroad but returned to Belgium when, together with some employees, Jozef bought a large property in Ieper: the foundry Alfred Valcke NV and part of Doom & Mahieu Construction Workshops NV, a manufacturer of gas engines and metal processing machines. The factory was located on the ‘Diksmuidseweg’ in Ieper, now called the Polenlaan. Alfred Valcke was the former owner of a foundry called ‘Fonderie de l’Yser – Fonderie et ateliers de construction’ (Yser Foundry – Foundry and construction workshops). The grounds probably housed an industrial complex before Valcke acquired them, and the full surface of the ‘Fonderie de l’Yser’ was considerably smaller than the later Picanol site. The choice for the Valcke site was a rather logical one; after all, it included a foundry and consequently contained an infrastructure.