Albrecht Rodenbach

Albertus Petrus Josephus Mansuetus Ferdinandus "Albrecht" Rodenbach (; 27 October 1856 – 23 June 1880) was a Flemish poet, and a leader in the revival of Flemish literature, or "Flemish movement", that occurred in the late 19th century. He is more noteworthy as a symbol of the Flemish movement than for his actual activities, since he died at the age of 23. Hugo Verriest called Rodenbach "the poet, the soul, the heart, the mind, the word of Reborn Flanders".

Early life Rodenbach was born in Roeselare into a bourgeois family, the eldest of 10 children and cousin to the novelist Georges Rodenbach. Albrecht Rodenbach's father was Julius Rodenbach (1824–1915) from the Rhineland, brother to Felix Rodenbach, the Flemish political propagandist. At the University of Leuven he met the poet Pol De Mont who was a year older. Together they sought to promote a Flemish artistic revival and equal rights for Flemish students as a student movement, creating the "Algemene Vlaamse Studentenbond" (All Flemish Student Association) in 1876. Among their objectives were to have classes in Dutch and to have classes include Flemish culture. The association's illustrated magazine Het Pennoen (The Pennant) published Rodenbach's essays anonymously. Rodenbach maintained his contacts in Roeselare through a committee of correspondence. Their ideology was a mixture of the philosophy Guido Gezelle, with the romantic nationalism of Hendrik Conscience, and the righteousness of true belief. Robenbach and de Mont called their student movement Blauwvoeterie after the blauwvoet (blue-footed booby) whose flight announces the coming storm. The rallying cry of the Blauwvoeterie was Vliegt de blauwvoet, storm op zee! (When the bluefoot flies, there is a storm at sea!) Rodenbach compared it to the German Burschenschaften movement.

Additionally, Rodenbach made contacts with the Flemish liberals, such as poet Jan van Beers and author Max Rooses, which served to publicize the movement and to expose its members to more political aims.

Rodenbach died in Roeselare of tuberculosis before his 24th birthday, and almost immediately became the pre-eminent symbol of the Flemish student movement. The rest of his work, including his verse play Gudrun, a dramatized epic of the Vikings, was not published until after his death.

Rodenbach was known at the time of his death for his songs, poems and tonal works which have remained inspiring symbols for the Flemish movement. He was the inspiration for Hendrik Conscience's novel Kerels van Vlaanderen. Flandria Film made a film about him in 1930 entitled Albrecht Rodenbach and directed by Clemens De Landtsheer. The cultural organization Rodenbachfonds was named after him.