page_title: Eeklo
section_title: 16th century until now
hierarchical_section_title: Eeklo / History / 16th century until now
caption_attribution_description: English: Eeklo, Belgium_;_ detail from Ferraris_Map
context_page_description: Eeklo is a Belgian municipality in the Flemish province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises only the town of Eeklo proper. The name Eeklo comes from the contraction of "eke" and "lo", two Old German words meaning oak and sparse woods.
context_section_description: During the second half of the 16th century, Eeklo was in the unfortunate position of being on the border between the Catholic south and the Protestant north, which resulted in so much destruction that the town was nearly abandoned by its inhabitants. At around that time the legend of "recooking" appeared, actually a rejuvenation recipe that involved drinking a youth elixir, cutting one's head off and baking it again. While the head was in the oven, a green cabbage took its place on the body, symbol of the empty head.
  The 18th and 19th century were more favourable and the textile industry took off again. Most of the town's schools and neo-gothic buildings date from that period. Today, Eeklo is changing its vocation from an industrial town to one of services to the neighbouring communities.
caption: Eeklo on the Ferraris map (around 1775)
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