After the municipality of Destelbergen bought this park from the Van Acker family in the 1970s, it was baptized "Reinaert Park" ... because some events from the medieval epic 'Van den vos Reynaerde' are said to have taken place in Destelbergen.
The park was constructed around 1843 by order of Guillichmus knight Stas de Richelle and his daughter, Maria Theresia de Volder, in the English landscape style with a serpentine pond. On the street side they converted a country house into a summer residence. Seventy years later, in 1914, one of the next owners, Theophilius & Louise Libbrecht-Soupart, then mayor of Destelbergen, had the current castle (now town hall) built. It was built in French Euville stone, which is very rare for our region. In 1923 he sold it to Max Van Acker, an industrialist well known in Destelbergen. His company 'Usines Textiles G. & M. Van Acker' was located in Koedreef and provided significant local employment. Mr. Van Acker died on October 4, 1967. After a series of negotiations, the heirs sold the property to the local government of Destelbergen on July 1, 1975. The name "Park Van Acker" continued to be popularly used long after the introduction of the new name, Reinaertpark.
From private garden to public park The plots of land on which the Reinaertpark is located were listed in the first half of the 19th century on a primitive land registry as 'bois d'agrément' (pleasure forest), 'jardin' (garden) and 'bois' (forest). The owner was Joannes de Volder, a rentier from Ghent.
Around 1843, his son-in-law, Guillichmus knight Stas de Richelle, and his daughter, Maria Theresia de Volder, had the park laid out in English landscape style with a serpentine pond. On the street side, they converted a country house into a summer residence.
When Maria Theresia died in 1879, her daughter Julie Stas de Richelle inherited the domain. Apparently, she and her husband, Fernand baron de Loen d'Enschedé, had little interest in this country estate, since they sold it in 1882 to a certain Gustave Hyde-Vercruysse from Ghent.
On 14 June 1898, the domain was sold publicly and assigned to Theophilius Libbrecht and his wife Louise Soupart. Theophilius held numerous positions: lawyer, provincial councillor, senator and mayor of Destelbergen (1900 to 1924). Around 1914, the current castle was built on his behalf. It was built in the French Euville stone, which is very rare in our region.
The socio-economic consequences of the First World War, the premature death of his wife and the high construction costs of the castle led to Libbrecht selling the domain in December 1923 and resigning as mayor a month later.
The new owner, Max Van Acker, was an industrialist well-known in Destelbergen. His company 'Usines Textiles G. & M. Van Acker' was located in the Koedreef and provided considerable local employment.
Mr Van Acker died on 4 October 1967. After a series of negotiations, the heirs sold the property to the local government of Destelbergen on 1 July 1975. The local government paid 325,000 euros to purchase the domain. However, by Royal Decree of 3 June 1977, we received a subsidy of 136,000 euros. This was subject to a clear condition: the park had to be designated as a public green space for passive recreation.
Translated by Google •
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