On the 16th of April, Louis Janssen passed away. In August he would have celebrated his 101st birthday. His passing marks the end of an era: Louis was the last of the legendary Janssen brothers. For 99 years he remained in the house where he was born, dedicating a major part of his life to the pigeons. Together with his sister Irma and his brothers Vic, Jef, Adriaan and Charel, Louis forged the mixed inheritance of his father into a bloodline unparalleled in the history of pigeon sport.

When they raced, they destroyed the competition. Once I had the good fortune of being shown one of their diaries, detailing the weather, pool money entered and won, birds put in the race, etc. That particular diary showed records from before the second World War: three weeks in a row the Janssen Brothers won the equivalent of a workman's house! But their pigeons did not only race well, they were and still are to this very day outstanding breeders. One has to look very hard for a Champion's pedigree that does not somewhere contain Janssen blood in it. It doesn't matter if those Champions race sprints, middle - or long distance: the Janssen pigeons enriched them all. Sure, the Janssen brothers themselves didn't bother taking their pigeons very far, but Japanese clients of ours reported Janssen offspring winning races up to 1000 km.

With their fantastic pigeons the Janssen Brothers put the small farmer's village of Arendonk on the world map. South Africans, Argentinians, Americans, Russians, Australians, Maltese, ... you name it: fanciers from all corners of the globe came to visit. They might not have known that Brussels is the capitol of Belgium or even that Belgium is situated in Europe, but they sure knew the exact geographical position of Arendonk and especially the position of that simple house in the Schoolstraat.

All of that has now come to an end. Louis Janssen was fortunate to enjoy good health for a very long time indeed, but at last old age caught up with him. In 2012 Louis moved to a home for the elderly and on 13 May 2012 his last remaining stock was sold for the staggering average price of 21390 euro per pigeon. The biggest fans of the Janssen pigeons, the Chinese and the Taiwanese, bought them all. Their strong economies made sure they could outbid all contenders. But make no mistake: despite their ability to be able to spend money like water, the Chinese and Taiwanese are no fools. They know the value of the most unique bloodline in pigeon racing. That's why after the auction they also started to buy every other original Janssen they could lay their hands on. Most fanciers sold their stock. I did not. As it happens I love the Janssen pigeons. They are usually very tame, easy to mate, they almost never fight or make trouble on your loft, they are beautiful and they are simply very, very good pigeons.

On the 22nd of April 2013, Louis Janssen's funeral ceremony was held in the church of Arendonk, the village that he and his brothers have made famous in the pigeon sport world. About 70 people came to pay their last respects. Two Germans, two Japanese, some family and only a handful of friends that loved their birds more than the money that was to be made from them: Marc Geentjens, André Roodhooft, my Dad and myself. Piet Manders unfortunately was unable to attend because he was in Hungary, but Cor, Piet's wife, was there. A few others. The big pigeon marketeers were nowhere in sight: no more money to be made from an old man that spent the last year of his life in a home for the elderly. It doesn't matter: Louis and his brothers can rest assured that there will be people enough that will continue to breed those fantastic quality pigeons that made them famous. The Janssen Brothers themselves are now gone, but their birds will live on as long as someone somewhere in the world is still racing pigeons. Goodbye Louis, and thank you for that legacy.