The Renard R.35 was a prototype pressurised airliner of the 1930s built by the Belgian aircraft manufacturer Constructions Aéronautiques G. Renard . A three-engined low-winged monoplane with retractable undercarriage, the R.35 was destroyed in a crash on its first flight.
72-507: In 1935, Alfred Renard, chief designer and co-founder of the Renard company, started design of a pressurised airliner for use by SABENA on its routes to the Belgian Congo . Renard designed a low-winged monoplane of all-metal construction, powered by three engines as required by SABENA, and received an order for a single prototype on 3 April 1936. The R.35 had a circular section fuselage, housing
144-521: A Catholic monk in Belgium, Albert wrote: "Consecrating oneself wholly to the service of Our Lord gives, to those touched by grace, the peace of soul which is the supreme happiness here below." Albert used to tell his children: "As you nourish your body, so you should nourish your soul." In an interesting meditation on what he viewed as the harm that would result if Christian ideals were abandoned in Belgium, he said: "Every time society has distanced itself from
216-590: A Sabena-operated Douglas DC-3 on a cargo flight from the United Kingdom to Yugoslavia , killing the radio operator and wounding both the captain and engineer. Co-pilot Douglas Wilson managed to land in Austria but the plane suffered significant damage. For the 1958 world exposition in Brussels, Sabena leased two Lockheed Super Constellations from Seaboard World Airlines , using them mainly on transatlantic routes. In
288-551: A boulder at the top of the mountain that became dislodged; the second that the pinnacle to which his rope was belayed broke, causing him to fall about 60 feet (18 metres). In 2016, DNA testing by geneticist Dr. Maarten Larmuseau and colleagues from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven on bloodstained leaves that were collected in 1934 from Marche-les-Dames concluded that King Albert had died at that location. Like his predecessors Leopold I and Leopold II, King Albert
360-492: A burden with which Sabena could not cope. After the bankruptcy, a parliamentary commission in Belgium was established to investigate the demise of the airline. The Belgian politicians got a part of the blame; Rik Daems , who, at the time, was Minister of Public Enterprises and Participations, Telecommunication and Middle Classes, received the most criticism due to his lack of effort. Swissair itself went bankrupt in October 2001 and
432-477: A deep mutual affection based on a rare affinity of spirit. They also make clear that Albert and Elisabeth continually supported and encouraged each other in their challenging roles as king and queen. The spouses shared an intense commitment to their country and family and a keen interest in human progress of all kinds. Together, they cultivated the friendship of prominent scientists, artists, mathematicians, musicians, and philosophers, turning their court at Laeken into
504-558: A former major shareholder, filed criminal charges against the former Swissair management. The former Swissair management was condemned by the judges. On 16 January 2007 the Belgian - Flemish news program Terzake reported that during the 1990s, several members of the board were paid large sums illegally through a Sabena affiliate in Bermuda . When Paul Reutlinger became the CEO of the company, he stopped
576-460: A harsh, restrictive treaty against Germany to prevent future German aggression. He also considered that the dethronement of the princes of Central Europe and, in particular, the dissolution of the Habsburg Empire would constitute a serious menace to peace and stability on the continent. The Allies considered Belgium to be the chief victim of the war, and it aroused enormous popular sympathy, but
648-700: A hero's welcome. The King Albert I Memorial in Nieuwpoort is dedicated to King Albert and the Belgian troops during the Great War. There are also at least two memorials to Albert outside Belgium, to commemorate his role in the Great War: Nancy, France has a Boulevard Albert Ier and a statue of the King, and Le Havre , France has a Boulevard Albert Ier. Interestingly, the Nancy statue is marked "Albert Ier" even though, when it
720-662: A kind of cultural salon. Albert and Elisabeth had three children: Following the death of his uncle, Leopold II , Albert succeeded to the Belgian throne in December 1909, since Albert's own father had died in 1905. Previous Belgian kings had taken the royal accession oath only in French; Albert innovated by taking it in Dutch as well. He and his wife, Queen Elisabeth, were popular in Belgium due to their simple, unassuming lifestyle and their harmonious family life, which stood in marked contrast to
792-446: A modernisation of the 1973 Sabena livery, in which a lighter blue was used and the titles on the fuselage were in a more modern style. In June 1986 the first of two Boeing 747-300 aircraft joined the fleet, eventually replacing the older 747-100s. In 1989 Sabena invited Belgian fashion designer Olivier Strelli to create a new range of uniforms for its cabin crews. A new name, Sabena World Airlines , and colours were introduced for
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#1732859559829864-404: A new company, Brussels Airlines . The Belgian Parliament formed a committee to investigate the reasons behind the bankruptcy of Sabena and the involvement of Switzerland's flag carrier. At the same time, the company's administrator investigated possible legal steps against Swissair, and its successors in interest Swiss International Air Lines and Lufthansa . In 2006, the Belgian government,
936-518: A pressurised cabin which accommodated twenty passengers and a flight crew of three. It was intended to be powered by a range of radial engines with the 950 hp (709 kW) Gnome-Rhône 14K preferred by Renard, but the prototype was fitted with 750 hp (560 kW) Gnome-Rhône 9K engines. The R.35 was completed early in 1938. On 1 April 1938, it was planned to carry out high-speed taxiing trials at Evere airfield in front of an audience of visiting dignitaries and journalists. After carrying out
1008-562: A route to Berlin was initiated in 1932. The mainstay pre-war airliner that Sabena used in Europe was the successful Junkers Ju 52 /3m airliner. The airline's pre-war routes covered almost 6,000 km within Europe. While the Brussels Haren Airport was Sabena's main base, the company also operated services from other Belgian airports and had a domestic network that was mainly used by businessmen who wanted to be in their coastal villas for
1080-581: A single taxi-run, however, the R.35 took off during a second run, and while attempting a circuit to return to the runway, the R.35 dived into the ground and was destroyed, killing the pilot Georges Van Damme. The cause of the crash was unknown. Following this crash, SABENA abandoned its interest in the R.35, and Renard abandoned development. Data from A Belgian Rare Avis General characteristics Performance SABENA The Societé anonyme belge d'Exploitation de la Navigation aérienne (French; lit. ' Belgian Corporation for
1152-477: A year earlier. They expected the new Belgian national airline to fill this gap. On 12 February 1925, Sabena aviators Edmond Thieffry , Léopold Roger and Joseph De Brycker succeeded in the feat of flying their Handley Page W8 F biplane from Brussels , capital of Belgium, to Léopoldville (now Kinshasa), capital of the Belgian Congo , pioneering a long haul route for passengers traveling between Europe and Africa, and King Albert 's daughter, Princess Marie-José flew
1224-658: Is interred in the Royal Crypt at the Church of Our Lady of Laeken in Brussels. In 1935, prominent Belgian author Emile Cammaerts published a widely acclaimed biography of King Albert I, titled Albert of Belgium: Defender of Right . In 1993, a close climbing companion of the King, Walter Amstutz , founded the King Albert I Memorial Foundation , an association based in Switzerland and dedicated to honouring distinguished individuals in
1296-552: The Belgian general strike of 1913 the promise had been made to have constitutional reform for one man, one vote universal suffrage but the German invasion of Belgium in August 1914 and the subsequent occupation delayed the implementation of the commission's proposal. In 1918, King Albert forged a post-war "Government of National Union" made up of members of the three main parties in Belgium,
1368-558: The Benedictine monastery of Maredsous in Belgium, King Albert wrote a letter to him in which he spoke of the joy of giving oneself to God. He said: "May you spend many years at Maredsous in the supreme comfort of soul that is given to natures touched by grace, by faith in God's infinite power and confidence in His goodness." To another friend, Lu Zhengxiang , a former prime minister of China who became
1440-646: The Convair 440s , until the early 1970s. The beginning of the 1960s saw a major upheaval for Sabena in the Congo . Widespread rioting against Belgian colonials in the months leading up to, and after the independence of the Democratic Republic of the Congo , caused thousands of Belgians to flee the country. The Belgian government commandeered Sabena's entire long-haul fleet to get the refugees back to Europe. Independence also meant
1512-524: The Roche du Vieux Bon Dieu at Marche-les-Dames , in the Ardennes region of Belgium near Namur . His death shocked the world and he was deeply mourned, both in Belgium and abroad. Because King Albert was an expert climber, some questioned the official version of his death and suggested that the King was murdered (or even committed suicide) somewhere else and that his body had never been at Marche-les-Dames, or that it
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#17328595598291584-801: The United States . King Albert and his party arrived in New York City on 2 October. The party would then proceed to visit several sites in the Eastern United States including Boston and Niagara Falls , before heading to the Western United States. King Albert and his party arrived in California on 10 October. Upon arrival in Sacramento , the King awarded the Order of Leopold II to the engineer who
1656-585: The de Havilland Comet 4 since 4 October 1958). One of Sabena's aircraft became the first Boeing 707 to crash while in commercial service when Flight 548 crashed while preparing to land at the Brussels Airport on 15 February 1961. The United States Figure Skating Team was aboard the aircraft, en route from New York to Prague via Brussels to compete in a figure skating championship. Six Caravelle jetliners were introduced on all medium-haul routes in Europe from February 1961, being flown on most routes alongside
1728-467: The 1990s. The new livery had an overall white colour and the white circle tail logo in blue on the fin. A large "Sabena" title covered the fuselage in light blue and the name "Belgian World Airlines" was at times just visible, though the title was also painted on the fuselage in small, clear letters. The 1990s saw further fleet type renewal: the DC-10-30s were replaced with twin-engined Airbus A330 and
1800-577: The Belgian Congo. Sabena was the first airline to introduce transatlantic schedules from the north of England, when one of its DC-6Bs inaugurated the Brussels- Manchester - New York route on 28 October 1953. The Convair 240 was introduced in 1949 to partially replace the DC-3s that until then had flown most European services. As of 1956, improved Convair 440 "Metropolitan" twins began replacing
1872-406: The Belgian government had to cover losses, however it was prevented from providing new funds due to EU State Aid rules. For help in business due to their financial problems, Sabena leased a couple of Boeing 747s from Air France . Many more aircraft were leased for longer periods, but had to keep their distinctive French registration numbers . Around 1987, SAS tried to merge with the carrier, but
1944-478: The Belgian throne as his reigning uncle Leopold II's son had already died. When, however, Albert's older brother, Prince Baudouin of Belgium , who had been subsequently prepared for the throne, also died young, Albert, at the age of 16, unexpectedly became second in line (after his father) to the Belgian Crown. Retiring and studious, Albert prepared himself strenuously for the task of kingship. In his youth, Albert
2016-614: The Belgians , and his wife, Louise-Marie of France , and the younger brother of King Leopold II of Belgium ( r. 1865–1909 ). Princess Marie was a relative of Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany ( r. 1888–1918 ), and a member of the non-reigning, Catholic branch of the Hohenzollern family. Albert grew up in the Palace of the Count of Flanders , initially as third in the line of succession to
2088-465: The Boeing ;707-320Cs. Sabena, like many other trans-Atlantic airlines, was satisfied with the Boeing 707s. For commercial reasons, it was recognised that it had to buy jumbo jets for its prestige services, notably New York JFK and as of the mid-seventies, Chicago O'Hare . Sabena purchased only two first-generation jumbo jets, one named Tante Agathe (which means Aunt Agathe in French and Dutch,
2160-487: The Boeing 747s with four-engined Airbus A340 . After the liberalisation of the airline industry throughout Europe and the economic consequences of the Gulf War , the Belgian government, the main shareholder of the company, realized that Sabena had little chance of surviving on its own in this very competitive market, and began searching for a suitable partner. Sabena remained in a poor financial state, and year after year
2232-734: The Catholics, the Liberals, and the Socialists and attempted to mediate between the parties in order to bring about one man, one vote universal suffrage for men. He succeeded in doing so. The Belgian Government sent the King to the Paris Peace Conference in April 1919, where he met with the leaders of France, Britain and the United States. He had four strategic goals: He strongly advised against
Renard R.35 - Misplaced Pages Continue
2304-550: The Congo occurred on 12 February 1935 and took five and a half days, for which Sabena used a Fokker F-VII/3m aircraft. The following year, Sabena purchased the Savoia-Marchetti SM.73 airliner. With a speed of 300 km/h (200 mph), it reduced the journey time to only four days, and the Sabena service ran on alternate weeks to an Air Afrique service. In Europe, Sabena opened services to Copenhagen and Malmö in 1931 and
2376-487: The Convair 240 twins and were used successfully well into the 1960s between European regional destinations. In 1957, the long-range Douglas DC-7 C was introduced for long-haul routes but this plane would begin to be supplanted after only three years by the jet age . It remained in service on the transatlantic route until 1962. On 3 June 1954, a Soviet Air Force Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 ( NATO reporting name "Fagot") attacked
2448-447: The DC-3) available to help airlines restart operations after the war. The airline now flew under the name of SABENA - Belgian World Airlines . Sabena started its first transatlantic route to New York City on 4 June 1946, initially using unpressurised Douglas DC-4 airliners which were augmented and later replaced by Douglas DC-6 Bs. The DC-4s also restarted the airline's traditional route to
2520-665: The Exploitation of Aerial Navigation ' ), better known by the acronym Sabena or SABENA , was the national airline of Belgium from 1923 to 2001, with its base at Brussels Airport . After its bankruptcy in 2001, SN Brussels Airlines was formed through a takeover of former subsidiary Delta Air Transport and took over part of Sabena's assets in February 2002. SN Brussels Airlines merged with Virgin Express in 2007 to form Brussels Airlines . The airline's corporate headquarters were located in
2592-558: The Gospel, which preached humility, fraternity, and peace, the people have been unhappy, because the pagan civilisation of ancient Rome, which they wanted to replace it with, is based only on pride and the abuse of force" (Commemorative speech for the war dead of the Battle of the Yser , given by Dom Marie-Albert, Abbot of Orval Abbey , Belgium, in 1936). The war inflicted great suffering on Belgium, which
2664-579: The King's advice played a small role in Paris. Albert spent much of the remainder of his reign assisting in the postwar reconstruction of Belgium. In 1920 Albert changed the family name from " Saxe-Coburg-Gotha " to " House of Belgium " ( van België , in Dutch; de Belgique in French) as a result of strong anti-German sentiment. This mirrored the British royal family's name-change to House of Windsor in 1917. Albert
2736-597: The MD-11 from Boeing, which merged with McDonnell Douglas a year before. 1999 saw new colours introduced to the fleet, beginning with an Airbus A340 . One of the latest fleet types that Sabena introduced, right after the A321 and A320 was the A319 which saw service in 2000. These new planes were part of a record-order of 34 Airbus A320 family aircraft, imposed on Sabena when under Swissair management. After an airline recession and
2808-964: The Sabena House on the grounds of Brussels Airport in Zaventem . Sabena began operations on 23 May 1923 as the national carrier of Belgium. The airline was created by the Belgian Government with help of the Devriendt Family after its predecessor SNETA ( Syndicat national pour l'étude des transports aériens , National Syndicate for the Study of Aerial Transports) - formed in 1919 to pioneer commercial aviation in Belgium - ceased operations. Sabena operated its first commercial flight from Haren Brussels to London (England) on 1 July 1923, via Ostend . Services to Rotterdam (Netherlands) and Strasbourg (France) were launched on 1 April 1924. The Strasbourg service
2880-622: The Tiwas Indians. Ten thousand people travelled to Isleta for this occasion. That same year he was elected an honorary member of the New York Society of the Cincinnati . In New York, the King received a ticker tape parade in his honor. The visit was considered a success by the Belgian authorities. Since the Belgian general strike of 1893 , plural votes had been granted to individual men based on their wealth, education, and age, but after
2952-459: The age of 58, and he was succeeded by his son Leopold III ( r. 1934–1951 ). Albert Léopold Clément Marie Meinrad was born 8 April 1875 in Brussels , the fifth child and second son of Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders , and his wife, Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen . Prince Philippe was the third (second surviving) son of Leopold I ( r. 1831–1865 ), the first King of
Renard R.35 - Misplaced Pages Continue
3024-402: The airline, a few modifications were made to the aircraft's liveries, including a sticker, saying: Flying together with Swissair . In March and April 1998 two McDonnell-Douglas MD-11 aircraft, both leased from CityBird , joined the fleet and such long-haul destinations as Newark , Montreal and São Paulo were (re)introduced. Also, that year saw the delivery of the last passenger version of
3096-422: The aloof, autocratic manner and the dissolute private life of Leopold II. An important aspect of the early years of Albert's reign was his institution of many reforms in the administration of the Belgian Congo , Belgium's only colonial possession. King Albert was a devout Catholic . Many stories illustrate his deep and tender piety. For instance, when his former tutor General De Grunne, in his old age, entered
3168-576: The board of directors of Sabena, read a declaration on this day to explain the decision. 7 November 2001 was the final day of operations for Sabena. Flight 690 (operated by an Airbus A340-311 registered as OO-SCZ) from Abidjan , Ivory Coast and Cotonou , Benin, was the last Sabena flight to land in Brussels. The flight had 266 passengers and eleven crew members. A group of investors managed to take over Delta Air Transport , one of Sabena's subsidiaries, and transformed it into SN Brussels Airlines . That airline merged with Virgin Express in 2006 to form
3240-402: The company. This was because at the time Swissair was having its own financial problems. In the so-called "Hotel Agreement", signed on July 17, 2001, Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt met with Swissair boss Mario Corti , who agreed to inject €258 million into Sabena, but the sum was never paid. The purchase of 34 new Airbus A320 family planes, imposed under Swissair's management, was
3312-569: The effects on the airline industry of the September ;11 attacks in 2001, all airlines that flew across the Atlantic suffered. Swissair had pledged to invest millions in Sabena but failed to do so, partly because the airline had financial problems itself, having filed for bankruptcy protection one month prior. Sabena filed for legal protection against its creditors on 3 October, and went into liquidation on 6 November 2001. Fred Chaffart , chairman of
3384-453: The end of the impressive regional network of routes that the airline had built up in the Congo since 1924. When the new republic began its own airline, Air Congo , in June 1961, Sabena held 30 per cent of that airline's shares. The Douglas DC-6Bs remained in service with Sabena in the mid-1960s although they were no longer used on the airline's main routes. The Boeing 707s and Caravelles became
3456-595: The future peace and stability of Europe. Neither Germany nor the Entente were favourable to the idea, tending instead to seek total victory, and Albert's attempts to further a negotiated peace were unsuccessful. At the end of the war, as commander of the Army Group Flanders , consisting of Belgian, British and French divisions, Albert led the final offensive of the war that liberated occupied Belgium. King Albert, Queen Elisabeth, and their children then reentered Brussels to
3528-409: The illegal payments. Terzake went on to state that this might explain why the Belgian board members remained quiet when it became apparent Swissair was exploiting Sabena and eventually drove the company into bankruptcy. The reasons for the bankruptcy of Sabena are numerous. One of the direct causes was Swissair not living up to their contractual obligations and failing to inject necessary funds into
3600-410: The main route being Boma - Léopoldville - Élisabethville , a 2,288 km (1,422 mi) route over dense jungle . First, flights were operated with De Havilland DH.50s , although these were quickly replaced by the larger Handley Page W.8f which had three engines and offered ten seats. By 1931 Sabena's fleet, including the aircraft used on the Congo network, totalled 43 aircraft. Its mainstay type
3672-461: The mainstay types during this decade. Boeing 727-100s were introduced on important European routes and also some African services from 1967 in a unique colour scheme; the fin markings incorporated bare-metal rudder and white engine colours. At this time Fokker F27s entered service between regional Belgian airports and European destinations such as London Heathrow . The Boeing 747-100 was introduced in 1971, on transatlantic routes flying alongside
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#17328595598293744-426: The merger was blocked by the Belgian authorities. In 1989, British Airways and KLM purchased stakes in Sabena, which were later sold back to the Belgian government. In 1993, Air France purchased a large minority stake in Sabena, which it sold soon after. Finally, in 1995, Swissair purchased a 49 percent stake in Sabena and took over management. In 1993 Sabena adopted its third and final logo, and its head office
3816-621: The national languages of Belgium), and it continued to fly the 707 into the early 1980s, as the Boeing 747-100's last flight occurred in 1993. In 1973, the Boeing 727s on the European network were replaced by Boeing 737-200s . The McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 entered service in 1974. In total, Sabena purchased five of these convertible (Passengers and/or freight) combi aircraft wide-body jets. In 1984 Airbus A310s were introduced on routes that had high passenger density. This aircraft type also introduced
3888-587: The native population and further technological progress in the colony. Albert was married in Munich on 2 October 1900 to Bavarian Duchess Elisabeth Gabrielle Valérie Marie , a Wittelsbach princess whom he had met at a family funeral. A daughter of Bavarian Duke Karl-Theodor , and his second wife, the Infanta Maria Josepha of Portugal , she was born at Possenhofen Castle , Bavaria , Germany , on 25 July 1876, and died on 23 November 1965. The civil wedding
3960-400: The route on April 3. Throughout its history, Sabena had a long tradition of service to African destinations and for a long time, these were the only profitable routes served by the airline. Sabena used land planes for its Congo operations and a program of aerodrome construction was initiated in the Congo. This was finished in 1926 and Sabena immediately began flights within the Belgian colony,
4032-498: The same period, there were experiments with helicopter passenger service using Sikorsky S-58 aircraft from Brussels to Antwerp, Rotterdam, Eindhoven and the Paris heliport at Issy-les-Moulineaux . 1960 saw the introduction of the Boeing 707-320 intercontinental jet for trans-Atlantic flights to New York. SABENA was mainland Europe's first airline to operate a jet across the Atlantic ( BOAC had been flying jet transatlantic services using
4104-585: The time of the airline's existence, Sabena also operated these aircraft: [REDACTED] Media related to Sabena at Wikimedia Commons Albert I of Belgium Albert I (8 April 1875 – 17 February 1934) was King of the Belgians from 23 December 1909 until his death in 1934. He is popularly referred to as the Knight King (Dutch: Koning-Ridder , French: Roi-Chevalier ) or Soldier King (Dutch: Koning-Soldaat , French: Roi-Soldat ) in Belgium in reference to his role during World War I. Albert
4176-507: The type) and the Junkers Ju 52/3m airliner (it had five). Sabena also had just taken delivery of two Douglas DC-3s . During the war, the airline maintained its Belgian Congo routes, but all European services ceased. After the war, in 1946 Sabena resumed operating a network of intra-European scheduled services. The fleet initially consisted mainly of Douglas DC-3s. There were thousands of surplus Douglas C-47 Skytrains (the military variant of
4248-406: The weekend. In 1938, the airline purchased the new Savoia-Marchetti SM.83 , a development of the S.M. 73 with a speed of 435 km/h (270 mph), although it flew services at a cruising speed of about 400 km/h (250 mph). At the outbreak of World War II in 1939, Sabena's fleet totalled 18 aircraft. Its mainstay fleet type was the Savoia-Marchetti SM.73 airliner (it had 11 of
4320-455: Was occupied by German forces . Other crucial events of his reign included the adoption of the Treaty of Versailles in June 1919, the ruling of the Belgian Congo as an overseas possession of Belgium along with the League of Nations mandate of Ruanda-Urundi , the reconstruction of Belgium following the war, and the first five years of the Great Depression (1929–1934). Albert died in a mountaineering accident in eastern Belgium in 1934, at
4392-432: Was a committed conservationist and in 1925, influenced by the ideas of Carl E. Akeley , he founded Africa's first national park, now known as Virunga National Park , in what is now Democratic Republic of Congo . During this period, he was also the first reigning European monarch to visit the United States. A passionate alpinist , King Albert I died in a mountaineering accident on 17 February 1934, while climbing alone on
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#17328595598294464-432: Was born in Brussels as the fifth child and second son of Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders , and Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen , Albert succeeded his uncle Leopold II to the Belgian throne in 1909. He married Elisabeth of Bavaria , with whom he had three children. Albert ruled during an eventful period in the history of Belgium , which included the period of World War I (1914–1918), when most of Belgium
4536-417: Was conducted by Friedrich Krafft Graf von Crailsheim in the Throne Hall, and the religious wedding was conducted by Cardinal von Stein , assisted by Jakob von Türk , Confessionar of the King of Bavaria. Based on the letters written during their engagement and marriage (cited extensively in the memoirs of their daughter, Marie-José ) the young couple appear to have been deeply in love. The letters express
4608-410: Was deposited there. Several of those hypotheses with criminal motives were investigated by authorities, but doubts have remained ever since, being the subject of popular novels, books, and documentaries. Rumors of murder have been dismissed by most historians. There are two possible explanations for his death, according to the official juridical investigations: the first was that the king leaned against
4680-507: Was erected in 1934 following his death earlier that year, he was the only King of the Belgians to have been called Albert. Upon his return to Brussels, King Albert made a speech in which he outlined the reforms he desired to see implemented in Belgium, including an improved military, universal suffrage and the establishment of a Flemish University in Ghent . From 23 September to 13 November 1919, King Albert, Queen Elisabeth of Bavaria , and their son Prince Leopold made an official visit to
4752-437: Was extended to Basel (Switzerland) on 10 June 1924. Amsterdam (Netherlands) was added on 1 September 1924, and Hamburg (Germany) followed on 1 May 1929 via Antwerp , Düsseldorf and Essen . When Sabena was created, the airline was partly funded by Belgians in the Belgian Congo colony who had lost their air service, an experimental passenger and cargo company ( LARA ) between Léopoldville , Lisala , and Stanleyville
4824-477: Was in the Air Terminus building on Rue Cardinal Mercier in Brussels . In 1994, Paul Rusesabagina , a manager for Sabena-owned hotels in the former Belgian territory of Rwanda , sheltered over 1200 Tutsis and moderate Hutus at the Hôtel des Mille Collines of Kigali , saving them from being slaughtered by the Interahamwe militia during the Rwandan genocide (this is depicted in the 2004 motion picture Hotel Rwanda ). When Swissair took over management of
4896-414: Was liquidated in March 2002. The flight schedule of Sabena published in March 2001 comprised 33 cities in Europe, 17 in Africa, 6 in North America, and 4 in Asia. In addition to its air destinations, Sabena also had a ground shuttle service between Valenciennes , France, and Brussels Airport . Sabena's fleet consisted of the following aircraft at the time of the bankruptcy in November 2001: During
4968-431: Was on board the King's special train. During his brief stay in Sacramento thousands came to see the Belgian royals, with mothers even holding out their babies for the King to kiss. During a visit of the historic Native American pueblo of Isleta Pueblo, New Mexico , King Albert decorated Father Anton Docher with Knight in the Order of Leopold II . Docher offered the King a turquoise cross mounted in silver made by
5040-448: Was seriously concerned with the situation of the working classes in Belgium, and personally travelled around working-class districts incognito, to observe the living conditions of the people. Shortly before his accession to the throne in 1909, Albert undertook an extensive tour of the Belgian Congo , which had been annexed by Belgium in 1908, finding the country in poor condition. Upon his return to Belgium, he recommended reforms to protect
5112-408: Was subjected to a harsh German occupation. The King, fearing the destructive results of the war for Belgium and Europe and appalled by the huge casualty rates, worked through secret diplomatic channels for a negotiated peace between Germany and the Entente based on the "no victors, no vanquished" concept. He considered that such a resolution to the conflict would best protect the interests of Belgium and
5184-560: Was the Fokker F.VII B with a lesser number of smaller Fokker VIIA and 14 Handley-Page types. It also flew British Westland Wessex aircraft. Sabena occasionally flew to tropical Africa, Belgium's Congo colony, but mostly these aircraft were shipped out. There was no direct flight yet between Belgium and the colony. As the 1930s progressed, Sabena cooperated with Air France and Deutsche Luft Hansa , which also had interests in routes to destinations across Africa. Sabena's first long-haul flight to
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