Museum of Industry (Ghent)

Desmet-Guequier’s financial difficulties were no exception, they survived thanks to capital injections from a succession of new backers.

[1] The industry is cyclical, after the good times at the turn of the century, eight of Ghent’s cotton mills merged to form the Union Cotonnière in 1914, and the Desmet-Guequier factory was taken over.

Its finest works include a Mule Jenny and the twiner dating from 1789, which both feature on the Flemish Government’s Masterpiece Decree list.

The Mule jenny was the actual machine illicitly exported from England by Lieven Bauwens in 1798.

Pierre De Geyter, who wrote the music to “The Internationale” was born locally so is honoured with a bronze statue.