Chateau de Wolvendach, Brussegheme

The postcard story continues. Instead of receiving the two Gabrielle Petit postcards I bought on e-bay, I got one Gabrielle Petit postcard and one of the 'Monument de Mérode' in Brussels. Apparently the second Petit postcard became victim of an over-active toddler and a cup of coffee and the seller sent me the Mérode card instead. At first I was somewhat disappointed. But when I took a closer look a the postcard, I saw it was presumably sent on the 9th of January 1918. For a World War I adept, this is thrilling enough.



The card was sent to a Mademoiselle Lucie Nérenne by her friend Madame Marie Ost (?) of St. Gilles. (St. Gilles now happens to be the district where Petit was imprisoned before her execution.) But hat made me curious most was that Mademoiselle Nérenne lived at the Chateau de Wolvendach in the Belgian town of Brussegem (previously and in French called Brussegheme), part of Merchtem. I doubt she was a noblewoman; probablye she was a servant there (she is addressed as 'Mademoiselle', so she is unmarried + her first name 'Lucie' sounds rather common). The white pages learn that today there's no one with that name (Nérenne) in the whole of Belgium, so she probably wasn't a descendent from a noble family. I did some research on the 'Chateau de Wolvendach' in Brussegem. First, there only is the Castle in Ossel (a part of Brussegem), but exept for the presence of two huge and very old trees (called 'mamoetbomen') in its neighbourhood, it doesn't seem a major tourist attraction. So far I haven't found any more information about it. The name of 'Wolvendach' - which sounds very very German - doesn't ring a bell either. No hits when I google it. :-( If I link the name to the wartime period, I guess the castle (or manor) could have been temporarilly requested by the German army; and Mademoiselle Nérenne could have been a servant there, 'sous le joug allemand'. A young girl who left her home (in St. Gilles maybe) before the war to go and work for a well-to-do family outside the capital) Madame Marie Ost (?), the sender of the postcard lived in the Rue Neufchatels in St. Gilles. Today, a 'Rue de Neufchatel' exists in St. Gilles, not exactly the same name, but maybe just some minor spelling changes made of the years. It crosses de Chaussée de Charleroi. From the postal stamp, I deduct the postcard was stamped in the postal office of the Chaussée de Charleroi. It seems only logical that in the winter of 1917-1918- while Brussels was occupied by the Germans - a married woman would mail a postcard to a friend from the nearest post office or postal box.



Curiously - but not completely uncommon those days - there's no message on the postcard. Only the two addresses. What would to women - old friends maybe - write to each other in the midst of the war. While the youngest of the two (?) was working on a Chateau out of town? Surely the German censor would read along. On the front side of the postcard there's the statue of Frederic de Mérode on the 'Place des martyrs' in Brussels. It was made by sculptor Paul Dubois and erected in 1898. Now, Frederic de Mérode - Compte Louis-Frédéric-Ghislain de Merode - born in Maastricht in 1792, was deadly wounded in the city of Berchem on October 24th 1830, during the Belgian independence 'battle'. In 1830 the Belgians freed themselves from the Dutch occupier and became independent. So in fact, this is another postcard of a Belgian national martyr! I don't think it is too bold to suggest now that Marie Ost (?) sent a warm patriotic sign to her friend. Remember 1830: the Belgians have overcome foreign occupiers before!