Three historical figures, who have also been immortalized as a statue in the tower, told about the turbulent centuries: from the construction of the cloth hall to the disaster that the market struck. Olivier de Duivel, Tanneke Sconyncx and Baljuw Spierinck expressed their stories, sometimes with a nod to the dark Middle Ages.
“It is very instructive for myself,” says Michiel Coudenys, who plays Olivier the devil. “I didn’t know that the Hallentoren was already founded in 1275 by Johanna van Constantinople.” Ann Roelens, as Tanneke, also found it impressive to empathize with a woman who was accused of witchcraft at the time.
And visitors were also impressed. “I only knew that Tielt was liberated by the Poles,” says a spectator. “For the rest I had no idea of the history.”