De Sjouwer, Memorial sculpture in Aalbeke, Belgium

De Sjouwer is a slender, off-white concrete tower about 35 metres tall, standing on a grassy hill beside the E17 motorway between Lille and Ghent in Aalbeke. Its shaft is divided into stacked horizontal sections by recessed seams, and the top, crowned by a weather vane, points toward France.

De Sjouwer was inaugurated on 2 October 1974. It was designed by Brussels architect and sculptor Jacques Moeschal, who had also created De Pijl, the civil engineering pavilion at the 1958 Brussels World's Fair. The hill it stands on was formed between 1966 and 1977, when the E17 motorway was cut through the heavy loam down to the clay layer.

The monument honours the West Flemish seasonal workers who crossed the border to work in France, mainly in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region, between 1930 and 1960. Its name, De Sjouwer, is Flemish for the hauler or heaver, the labourer who carried and shifted loads. The tower's highest point is turned toward France, the direction these workers took.

De Sjouwer stands on the grass beside a path on the hill above the E17 between Lille and Ghent, in Aalbeke. The tower rises from ground level with no visible entrance or stairs, so it is viewed from outside rather than climbed. Bare trees stand to its left; the motorway runs close by.

The tower is topped by a weather vane, and its highest point leans toward France, the direction the seasonal workers took. The concrete shaft is divided into stacked horizontal panels, and small graffiti marks sit at its base beside the path.