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.

Present at the reveling of the statue of Albrecht Rodenbach in Roeselaere. Formerly Hugo Verriest, Ferdinand Rodenbach and his children, René de Clercq, Prof. Gustaf Verriest and others.

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.