Today is the birthday of Ferdinand Rodenbach (November 1, 1714-November, 17 1783). He was a military surgeon and a co-founder of Brouwerij Rodenbach, along with his brothers. His younger brother Pedro Rodenbach was a military officer and fought in the Battle of Waterloo. When he left the army in 1818, he married a brewer’s daughter, Regina Wauters, who was from Mechelen in Belgium. After Pedro’s father died, he and his brothers, Alexander, Ferdinand and Constantijn, bought a brewery in Roeselare, which is where Ferdinand had settled after being held as a prisoner of war in France. When their agreed-upon partnership ended after fifteen years, Pedro and Regina bought them out. It was originally called Brasserie et Malterie Saint-Georges, but later became known as Brouwerij Rodenbach.

This is from the website for the City of Roeselare:

Ferdinand Rodenbach, born in Andernach 1714, is the first Rodenbach to settle in Roeselare. In the mid-eighteenth century he was a warrior in the Austrian army that came to fight Louis XV in our regions. After the war, Ferdinand Rodenbach married Johanna Vandenbossche van Wacken in Lille in 1748 and came to Roeselare in June 1749. On the following July 17, he was “gheadmitt by the Collegium Medicum of Ipre” and settled in Roeselare as master surgeons. He writes several works on medicine in German. In 1762 he bought a house “van suyden d’Iperstraete” and lived there. In 1773 he became burgess of Roeselare. Ten years later, in 1783, Ferdinand Rodenbach died there. Ferdinand and Johanna’s marriage produces eight children, five of whom,three daughters and two sons, growing big.

And this is the history currently on the brewery website:

Ferdinand RODENBACH was a soldier, civilian physician and burgher. He was married to Johanna VANDENBOSSCHE and they had 4 children. The RODENBACH family coat of arms indicates its noble origins, originating from Odenwald in HESSEN. The RODENBACHs of Roeselare originate from the town of ANDERNACH AM RHEIN. After being a French prisoner of war in Lille, Ferdinand left the Austrian army at the age of 35 and settled in Roeselare. He is known to have published several medical volumes in German.