Museum village de Locht lives on stories. We collect stories from our volunteers, stories about the museum and stories about the past. New stories are added here regularly.
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The Spanish flu in Meijel
The corona pandemic with which the world struggled in 2020-2022 had a predecessor 100 years ago: the Spanish Flu. The peak of this flu virus was in 1918 and hit Europe particularly hard. Millions of deaths were the result, far more than the First World War made. What was special about the Spanish Flu was…
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Expressions
From the 14th century onwards, the Aldermen’s Bench (predecessor of the current College of Mayor and Aldermen) exercised local government. The Aldermen’s Bench consisted of seven, nine or eleven persons appointed by the local lord of the castle. The task of the Aldermen’s Bench was, among other things, to record everything administratively, to appoint the…
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My First Holy Communion, May 1946
It’s communion time again, at least what’s left of it. In our time, the whole class made First Communion, without exception. This was preceded by a lot of preparation, especially at school. The parish priest or chaplain came to the school once a week to talk about this sacrament. The teacher and schoolmistress were also…
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Our tractors through the years
At our home we had an average mixed farm of about 20 ha, mainly lean sandy soil. My father mined a large part of it in the years 1933 to 1938. We had a servant and a maid who helped out in the fields and in the house. The land was worked with a horse…
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The self-binder
For years we have had a self-binder from the 50s of the last century in our collection. This is a machine that mows the grain and binds it with rope into bunches, called sheaf or sheaf. This self-binder is unique because it is equipped with a cane device. This ensures that the grain is guided…
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Quite a job! Construction of the agricultural barn 1993
At the municipality, they knew that we were working intensively on the museum. The industrial estate was expanded, and the Janssen farm (Verdellenplaats) had to make way for this expansion. It was an old building, so we received an offer from the municipality to move the old barn, as far as possible. Thijs Pubben from…
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The hairdresser
When the museum was decorated, people were pleasantly surprised that hairdresser Theo Kleeven from Horst made an offer to place his museum hairdressing collection at De Locht! There was no room for this at the Antiquities Room in Horst. The Locht Open Air Museum found a suitable space in the attic to house the entire…
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In pious memory of Leonard Camps
Also read the story about Bottermelkslei Our good Lei, born in Horst 10 May 1889, has passed away from us. He was a well-known village type. There was no ceremony or he was there. Whether it was a Church feast or a civil one, a feast of the elderly or of the young, he was…
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Bottermelkslei
Recently, a painting by Bottermelkslei has been hanging in the restaurant, the spieker. Bottermelkslei grew up on a farm between Melderslo and Horst on the open arable land called ‘Den Oetlegger’. Several gardeners from the area had a plot of land on the Oetlegger. They knew Lei well because his house was quite in the…