

This location subsequently went through restorations for elegant salons. On May 31, 1967, Richard Van Wijck and Paul Vankerkhoven established the limited company Cercle Cultural de la Cambre (CCC), located in a grand hotel on Avenue Franklin Roosevelt No. Van Wijck managed several companies but would soon need assistance from these men to create his idea of an international club in Brussels. The students from UCL would be closely linked to the Paneuropa Union, Opus Dei, Knights of Malta and World Anti-Communist League (WACL). Members included Jacques Jonet, Vincent van den Bossche and Paul Vankerkhoven. It existed for several years, until 1967, and came to include a limited amount of people, many of whom involved UCL colleges. This order came into existence in the year just before Opus Dei officially began activity in Belgium. At the university, Van Wijck founded the Ordre Estudiantin du Rouvre, which would be followed up by the Ordre du Rouvre, founded in 1964. Little contextĪt the old Catholic University of Louvain in Brussels, Belgium, a man named Richard Van Wijck studied law and made a number of friends. However, the many other names, organizations and scandals have been left for the following chapter. Some of the key members and scandals involving them have been mentioned. The following composes a brief, but limited, summary of the history of the Cercle des Nations.
#Rene van der wijck full#
Shrijvers acquired these names from a full membership list from the 1980-‘81 period, which she found in the archives of Walter De Bock. Teacher’s work was incredibly valuable and led to the equally important work of Klaartjie Schrijvers, who provided additional information, including a list of members and the companies they represented at the Cercle. I then searched through David Teacher’s ‘Rogue Agents,’ availed at ISGP. The Bende van Nijvel / Tueurs Brabant were helpful, but I still needed more. ISGP provided most of the key information and names involved with the club, but sources in foreign languages were essential to filling in the picture. Sources about this club in English were hard to come by, the only significant source being ISGP Studies of Joel van der Reijden.

The club ceased to exist in 2020-2021, with the development of the global Coronavirus pandemic. Then aligned more with the Liberal establishment, the latter became known as the most exclusive club in Belgium. The club was followed up in the 1990s-2010s by the Cercle de Lorraine. Centered in Brussels, its scope was a truly international, but curiously aligned with the Conservative establishment. In Belgium there have been numerous prominent clubs, but one appears to stand out in particular from the rest: the Cercle des Nations.
