'In the new society all functions must be elective, from the schoolmaster to the highest office; all must be the result of elections.' Gerard Sanders in 1851 (Documents relatifs à la franc-maçonnerie belge, 1973)
A message in De Volksstem of April 27, 1892 concerning the Dutch citizenship of the anarchist Ravachol appears in newspapers throughout Europe, and the town of Heerlen is briefly on the worldmap: 'Although it is certainly a dubious honor for Heerlen to have given birth to such descendants as Ravachol, we should not leave these details unmentioned. And then also this: Gerard Sanders, a Heerlen notary's son, supplied the bombs Orsini used to commit the attack on Napoleon III!' An interesting statement, which many newspapers uncritically copied, but how do we come from the fourierist Sanders, born in Heerlen in 1828, at Orsini's Machine infernale?
Why the Heerlen notary's son Gerard Sanders established himself in Liège as an arms manufacturer in 1850 remains unclear, as does his specific expertise in this field, but it is an ideal cover for the activities he will develop, making weaponry to combat kings and emperors. We find Sanders a year earlier residing at the Geleenhof in Heerlen (Journal du Limbourg, May 20, 1849). Although he was a child prodigy in mathematics at the Collège communal de Liège and also trained in law for some time in this city, he stood out as a gifted debater with progressive ideas in the Liège Freemason's lodge "Parfaite Intelligence et l'Etoile Réunies" , but was he the constructor of a real 'machine infernale' aimed at Napoleon III,? This connection can only be made with big steps.
From April 27 to May 1, 2024, you are very welcome for a presentation of documents surrounding Gerard Sanders.
DE / BIJ - Rue St. Antoine - Heerlen
On appointment only / R.S.V.P.
bastiaanvandervelden@hotmail.com
