World War One
The German occupation of Belgium prioritized economic exploitation for their war effort. The Germans requisitioned raw materials, machinery, and labor, redirecting them toward military needs or German industries. Companies like the Fabrique belge would have struggled to operate without authorization, as production required approval from German authorities, who often prohibited activities that competed with German interests.
A 1918 stock certificate from the company suggests it sought capital to offset wartime losses or restart operations. Such financial maneuvers were common among Belgian firms struggling under occupation.
The First World War cost Belgium approximately 20 percent of its wealth through loss or destruction. The industrial decline, which had already started before World War I, continued its downward path from which the country would never fully recover.
A Post-War Reckoning
The article referenced the Schiller-Verein, a German aid society founded in 1862 in Brussels, which had shifted during the war into a politicized group suspected of supporting German imperial interests. Financial backers, including Hucklenbroich, were implicitly accused of collaboration.
Though in his seventies and retired by 1914, Hucklenbroich remained tied to family business activities. Being named on a blacklist in 1919 brought serious consequences—social stigma, economic fallout, and legal risk. Whether the accusation was fair or not, it cast a lasting shadow over his reputation and family legacy.
Joseph died a few years later in 1923, reportedly in his favorite chair at home. The once-prominent industrial patriarch passed away in relative obscurity. The house in Molenbeek St. Jean was sold, and the remaining Hucklenbroich family moved into a house in Koekelberg, not far away.
Between Wars, Life Continues
Henri's brother Edouard kept working at his father's firm, along with Franz Bruns, his brother-in-law. Edouard had five children of his own, two of whom would play a pivotal role in preserving the memory of Henri Hucklenbroich's art and life: Marie-Louise and Leon Hucklenbroich.
One of Henri's more unusual interests was radium. Following its discovery, radioactivity was believed to cure various ailments. Spas featuring radium-rich water were promoted as beneficial, and some still exist today. These commercial ventures promoting pseudoscience during the early 20th century are now recognized as examples of "radioactive quackery."
Despite lacking records of how much contact existed between Henri Hucklenbroich and his ex-wife Milly after their divorce, we do know that she died on February 26, 1931.
The whereabouts of Henri Hucklenbroich during this period are unknown. He did frequently visit his brother Edouard and their family in Koekelberg. On December 8, 1934, Henri's oldest brother, Charles Hucklenbroich, committed suicide at the age of 63.
According to a family member, La Fabrique Belge de Matières Premières pour la Chapellerie had extended its workshops and factories to Ganshoren, most likely due to the reconstruction of quarters in Molenbeek.
Henri's children, however, appeared to be doing well. In 1932, Elisabeth was part of intellectual and academic circles in Belgium. She was associated with the Institut de Sociologie Solvay at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB). Her brother, Christian, was a photographer who owned a shop on Avenue Rogier. Then came the dark specter of war for the second time in their lives, sweeping away the remnants of a golden age.
World War Two
World War Two ravaged Europe. Belgium was occupied for a second time. With both his parents now deceased, Henri Hucklenbroich relied on his siblings for support when they could offer it. Strict rationing would only further weaken the old and the frail.
On January 22, 1942, Edouard Hucklenbroich, Henri's brother, was standing on the open balcony of a tram passing through Place D'Yser in Brussels when he experienced a spell of vertigo and fell off. He fractured his cranium, and desperate efforts at the local hospital, he passed away.
That same year, Henri Hucklenbroich's first daughter, Henriette, was documented to have been taken into custody by the Nazis and sent to work in forced labor camps. She was interned as a foreign national in Dießen am Ammersee, Bavaria, where she was forced to work under Nazi-controlled labor conditions. She would only return at the end of the war.
Death of the Artist
On November 19, 1942, Henri Hucklenbroich died of pneumonia at 15:30 at the age of 71. His nephew, Leon Hucklenbroich, a trained doctor who had maintained a close relationship with his uncle throughout the years, was at his side during his final moments.
The cause of death was stated as "pneumonia des vieillards" ("pneumonia of the elderly"), a term used at the time to describe pneumonia that struck those with weakened immune systems due to advanced age.
He is presumably buried in his father's sepulcher in Molenbeek Cemetery, and sadly there isn't even a reference to his name on the memorial.
Shortly after Henri's death, Franz Bruns, the last remaining family connection to the Fabrique, passed away in 1942, ending a chapter in the family's legacy.
Night and Fog
Henri Hucklenbroich's son, Christian, served in the Belgian resistance during the Nazi occupation. His skills as a photographer likely proved valuable for forging documents and gathering intelligence.
In early 1944, Christian was arrested under Hitler's "Nacht und Nebel" (Night and Fog) directive—a program designed to make political opponents vanish without trace. Archival records reveal his harrowing journey through the Nazi camp system:
• February 11, 1944: Deported to Esterwegen punishment camp • May 15, 1944: Transferred to Gross-Strehlitz for forced labor • October 30, 1944: Moved to Gross-Rosen extermination camp
At Gross-Rosen, prisoners endured extreme brutality, starvation rations of 300-400 calories daily, and deadly working conditions in granite quarries. When Belgian and French prisoners arrived in October 1944, they faced devastating epidemics of dysentery, pneumonia, and diphtheria.
Christian died on December 2, 1944. His causes of death were listed as "pneumonia, exhaustion, and heart failure."
Post-War
Henriette and Elisabeth survived the war. Evidence showed that Elisabeth and her cousins, Leon Hucklenbroich and Marie-Louise Baudrihaye, maintained contact, sharing knowledge of Henri Hucklenbroich and his art.
Most of Henri Hucklenbroich's paintings had already been sold or discarded, and the remaining collection—consisting of sketches, personal paintings, and a few unsold works—ended up in the possession of his niece, Marie-Louise Baudrihaye, and his nephew, Leon.
According to family anecdotes, his paintings were left on the street outside of his home after his death, and Leon and Marie-Louise expressively collected as many of them as they could, even cutting small canvas paintings from their frames in a desperate effort to keep as many as possible.
On May 31, 1949, the Brussels Stock Exchange announced the delisting of the Fabrique Belge de Matières Premières pour la Chapellerie, marking the formal dissolution of the once-thriving family business.
The building at Rue Ransfort was purchased between 1950 and 1951 by IMPRIMERIE E. GUYOT, a company with a long industrial history in Brussels dating back to 1880 and known for printing governmental documents. The last traces of industrial activity at Rue Ransfort disappeared when the foundry at number 27 officially closed in 1977. Today, the building houses La Fonderie (The Brussels Museum of Industry and Labour), dedicated to preserving the history of Belgium's industrial heritage.
Legacy
Henri's daughter Elisabeth took over the photography shop owned by her brother on Avenue Rogier, maintaining the business well into the 1960s.Henriette Hucklenbroich died on November 2, 1972.
Henri Hucklenbroich's niece, Marie-Louise Hucklenbroich-Baudrihaye, passed away on October 30, 1989. The Hucklenbroich collection in her possession was passed down to her five daughters. Roseanne Baudrihaye-Westerman obtained a portion of the collection, adding to the collection that she had obtained from Leon Hucklenbroich.
On October 3, 1994, Elizabeth Hucklenbroich, Henri Hucklenbroich's last daughter, peacefully passed away at the age of 92. She did engage in correspondence with Roseanne, although it is unknown if there was any further information on Henri Hucklenbroich's life shared between them.
Following the passing of Roseanne Westerman (née Baudrihaye) in May 1998, the collection was further passed down to me. The whereabouts of many of the Hucklenbroich paintings are unknown, most likely in the hands of private collectors.
Since 2010, I have endeavored to assemble the fragments of Hucklenbroich's life and have shared my findings through this website. I have been fortunate enough to be contacted by collectors, enthusiasts, and curators who shared their acquisitions with me, allowing me to expand and share my knowledge on Hucklenbroich even further.
A Lost Masterpiece Rediscovered in Color
In 2014, I received an email from the Museum of Fine Arts in Makhachkala, Dagestan, revealed a remarkable rediscovery: the museum held a painting titled "Autumn Visit" (Une visite automnale), signed Henri Hucklenbrok. This contact was initiated after the sender found this website.The museum had little information about the work but confirmed it was received in 1949 from the State United Museum of Dagestan, a Soviet-era institution that centralized artworks from various sources. The painting, also known as "Two Women," was part of a trio exhibited by Hucklenbroich at the 1899 Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris.
Until that point, the only known image of Une visite automnale was a grainy black-and-white scan from a book—an echo of a lost legacy. Seeing the painting in full color for the first time, thanks to the photo sent by the museum, was a transformative moment.
The image brought the work vividly back to life, confirming not only its authenticity but also its artistic depth. This rediscovery offered new momentum to research on Hucklenbroich, whose contributions to late 19th-century European art had remained hidden for too long.
Hopefully, more artworks and insights into Henri Hucklenbroich's art will surface again, revealing better insight into the artist, and the vibrance of his art.
It has always been my hope that this repository of information would be used to ensure his place as a minor but nonetheless important contributor to Belgium's artistic diaspora in the 19th century.
