Although the city of Sint-Niklaas does not play a part in the notorious Reynaert story, it has been home to experts of the medieval epic poem for over half a century. That is why the city decided to adorn the park with a statue dedicated to the sly fox.
In 1955, honorary benches with quotes from the poem were installed in various communities in the Waasland region. At the unveiling ceremony, the chairman of the Flemish Tourism Association, Jozef Van Overstraeten, deplored that Sint-Niklaas was not one of them, especially as the capital of the region is home to two of the most notorious experts of the epic poem: father De Wilde and father Aloïs. As a result, in 1958, Sint-Niklaas did not only receive its own bench, but also this wonderful statue by artist Albert Poels. It depicts Reynaert leaving the court of King Nobel in false tears. However, his pointy upright ears give away that he's got different plans.
Poels used pink sandstone from the German city of Mainz to create his work of art. As you can see today, the exposure to wind and rain has given it a rather red colour.
