10 years of knowledge thanks to Roets calendars
Historical calendars aim to fill gaps in Flemings’ general knowledge with an essay a day full of biographical snippets
A labour of love
If you did, you’re probably familiar with De Roets, a historical calendar whose every page features an episode from Flemish history or a biography, while every day brings a few tasty morsels of conversation-stopping information like the above, known in Dutch as weetjes and in this context as roetsjes.
De Roets is now in its 10th edition. It started in 2005 out of a sense of concern that general knowledge no longer seemed to be especially general, explains Jo Vranckx, the calendar’s editor.
“It seemed as if the collective memory of the Fleming was on the decline,” she told Flanders Today. “Someone was asked, do you know who Peter Benoit is? Yes, he answered, he was a famous DJ with Peter Koelewijn in the 1960s.” Benoit, for readers who may not be aware, was a Flemish composer who founded the forerunner of Flemish Opera and died in 1901.
“It’s enough to make your hair stand on end,” Vranckx says. “Someone else thought Maria van Bourgondië was a Dutch fashion designer. There are only two things you can do: Either you walk away, do nothing and leave things as they are; or you decide something has to be done.”
Famous fans
Thence came the idea of making a historical calendar, something people could hang in their homes and pay attention to from time to time – “To shake up the Flemish, and the Flemish youth especially, and get them to find out more about their own culture, their history and their roots – hence the name.
It’s enough to make your hair stand on end
The calendar is a labour of love. “Everyone connected with De Roets works for nothing, including me, but it’s a full-time occupation. A passion, you might say. Since I retired four years ago after 40 years as a teacher it’s been my pleasure to bury myself in De Roets. It’s a little bit addictive, but at least it’s a safe and enjoyable addiction.”
The website lists a couple of hundred names of people who have contributed text, illustrations or research over the years. There are also testimonials from readers – the calendar sells about 19,000 copies, Vranckx says – including some BVs, or well-known Flemings.
For example, Rik van Cauwelaert, former editor of Knack, for whom the big problem with De Roets is its addictive effect: “You want the years to go by more quickly, so you can get to read the next, always surprising, edition.” Professor Frank Fleerackers, chairman of the Union of Flemish Academics: “If the roots of a society are to be strengthened by education and interaction, De Roets shows the way.” And even Flanders Today: “The short, anecdotal biographies are utterly engrossing, so you end up reading through the calendar as if it were a book.” (Flanders Today, 5 December, 2007)
The 2014 edition features articles on personalities as diverse as master brewer Albert van Roy, empress Johanna van Vlaanderen and Tijl Uilenspiegel. It also has a foreword from Flemish minister-president Kris Peeters: “De Roets in Flanders in Action. Humility, resourcefulness and drive are central – those properties which will take us to the top five of European regions by 2020. De Roets is pure reading pleasure, 365 days long.”
De Roets 2014 is available from the website, as well as Standaard and Davidsfonds bookshops across Flanders, price €15.
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