Polders, dikes and the Zwin
The land of Knokke-Heist was won from the sea bit by bit, along the inlet that linked Bruges with the North Sea.
- Dikes against the sea: the first dikes near Heist were built in the 9th and 10th centuries, and from the 11th century residents gained ever more land by diking salt marshes.
- The Zwin to Bruges: via the Zwin, enlarged by the storm flood of 1134, Bruges was accessible to sea going ships and grew into an important trading centre in the 12th century.
- Beacons for sailors: the church towers of Westkapelle and Knokke served as beacons for ships heading for Bruges.
- Silting up: diking and sedimentation silted up the Zwin, so Bruges needed outports: first Damme, then Hoeke, Mude and Sluis.
Knok and Heys: two villages
Knokke and Heist began as small polder and fishing villages, each with its own story behind the name.
- The knok: the name Knokke goes back to the old word knok, a high, growing spit of land in the sea; on this dune growth the hamlet of Ten Knokke arose with a chapel to Saint Catherine.
- Fishermen in Knokke: Knokke probably arose in the 13th century after land reclamation, and fishing was long the main source of income.
- Koudekercke and Heys: Heist grew from two cores; near the Hof van Koudekercke the parish of Koudekercke (1221) arose, and near the Hof ter Heys by the dike the village of Heys, called Heyst by around 1600.
- Heyst-aan-Zee (1877): in 1877 the official name became Heyst-aan-Zee, later Heist-aan-Zee.
The rise of the seaside resort
It is not known exactly when the first tourists came to Heist and Knokke, but sea bathing grew quickly in the 19th century.
- Guest lists (1839): in 1839 the governor reminded the council of Heist that innkeepers were obliged to keep a list of their guests.
- A stone sea wall: with the growing number of bathers, Heist paved streets, installed water pumps and built a first stretch of stone Zeedijk with lanterns and benches; the first hotels were the Pavillon du Phare, the Kursaal and the Hotel de la Plage.
- By train to the sea (1863): on 16 August 1863 the railway reached Heist via a line through Blankenberge.
- Advertising (1877): in 1877 Heist advertised for the first time in the main stations, newspapers and magazines.
- Around the lighthouse: in Knokke the first simple establishments, such as Au Congo and the Marguerite, appeared near the lighthouse at the end of the Zeeweg; the first holiday guests were artists around the painter Alfred Verwee.
- Tram and plots: Knokke's first housing plots followed in 1887, the light railway from Heist to Bruges came in 1890 and in 1904 a horse tram ran from Knokke village to Knokke aan Zee, forerunner of the coastal tram.
Het Zoute, golf and casino
In the 20th century Knokke grew into one of the most exclusive resorts in Belgium.
- Compagnie Het Zoute (1908): in 1908 the Compagnie Immobilière du Zoute was founded to divide the land of the Zoute Polder into plots, with the noble Lippens family as the main owner.
- English guests: the first holiday visitors in Het Zoute were mainly English, who brought tennis and golf with them, creating one of the oldest golf courses on the continent.
- Albertstrand (1922): in 1922 the Albertstrand expansion began, the third pillar of the growth from polder village to resort.
- The song festival: from 1959 to 1973 a well known international song festival was held in Knokke.
War, merger and modern seaside town
Two world wars left their mark, after which Knokke-Heist became the well known resort of today.
- Munitions in the sea: after the First World War a large amount of munitions was dumped on a sandbank just off the coast; it is the largest munitions dump in Belgium.
- Liberation of the Zwin region: during the Second World War fighting took place here too in the Battle of the Scheldt; the For Freedom Museum in Ramskapelle tells this story.
- Reconstruction: after the war, and especially after 1955, building boomed again and many old buildings were replaced by apartments and villas.
- Farewell to the tram: in the 1950s most local tram lines disappeared; only the coastal tram to Ostend and De Panne remained.
- Knokke-Heist (1971): in 1971 Knokke, Heist and the polder villages of Ramskapelle and Westkapelle merged into the municipality of Knokke-Heist.
