Statue of the Dikke van Pamel (Victor De Klerck)

The statue on the Dender is the Statue of the Fat Van Pamel, a monument in Pamel (Roosdaal) in memory of the popular figure Victor De Klerck, alias 'the Fat van Pamel' (1848-1885). This bronze work of art is located on the edge of the Dender and is by sculptor Patrick van Craenenbroeck. The statue only shows the clothing of the imposing figure, as a symbol of his liberation from his merciless fate. It weighed an estimated 300 kilos and was often watched by the boat pullers who pulled their ships along the towpath1. It made him shy and depressed and he was barely thirty-six years old. The statue was inaugurated on September 9, 2001 and is now a beacon along the Denderkaai. You can also find a playground and a bench there.

Victor De Klerck, alias the Dikke van Pamel (Pamel, June 14, 1848 - there, February 16, 1885) is a folkloric figure from Roosdaal. De Klerck was born in the municipality of Pamel. De Klerck is said to have weighed about 300 kilograms and was therefore nicknamed the Fat van Pamel. In 1985, 100 years after his death, De Klerck received a statue in Pamel. In folkloric processions, the Dikke van Pamel is portrayed as a large heavy doll.

Bronze artwork that is close to the Denderbord. This is the portrayal of a man who really existed and lived in Pamel (Roosdaal). Curiously, this man had to contend with an abnormal increase in his weight. At the end of his life (barely 36 years old) he would have weighed between 300 and 350 kg. Before becoming shy, he often cooled off in the waters of the Dender... quickly becoming a public figure.