30.01.1952 Move to Schaffmill,12 in Grevenmacher

• In October 1925 we find the first trace of Alfred in Belgium in Herentals.
• Two years later, Alfred and his girlfriend and father move to Hemiksem to the Provinciale Steenweg, 20.
• After that he moves 9 more times before leaving Belgium, i.e. between 1925 and 1951 Alfred moved 11 times. Nobody knows why he did this. A possible explanation is to make traceability difficult. As a 'stateless person' he did not have to do military service in Belgium but feared perhaps being called by the Czech Republic or Germany. The last 9 addresses are mapped in the video below.

• Alfred's journey around the world is far from over. ⇒ ⇒ ⇒ …….. ⇒
  AAlfred was born in Germany. After WWI the family emigrated to Eindhoven in the Netherlands. A few years later, father and Alfred emigrated to Belgium where Alfred lived his top years. Father dies at the beginning of WWII. After the marital problems Alfred decides to move to Luxembourg. Everyone thinks that he moved to Euskirchen in Germany. Nobody knows, but that's not true. Before he moves to Euskirchen he will first try to move to France and then to Germany, but not immediately to Euskirchen.
  

This move was different than usual because of the distance. Different country, different habits. For example, the kitchen was moved and reinstalled by Van de Ven, Plumbing by Georges Dom.

He was forced to let some of his staff come over because there were no glassblowers in Grevenmacher and surrounding municipalities. His bookkeeper with wife and children moved with him to Luxembourg.

Everything seems to have been a gamble, but a not too well prepared gamble. It didn't take long before Alfred realised that things were going wrong and he took measures. The glass that was produced was of course of excellent quality, but it remained a simple material. His clients in Belgium ordered a much wider range from doll's eyes to art vases, not to mention his unique Christmas decorations. Christmas decorations that he would never again be able to make at a competitive price. That chapter was definitively closed.