E.Reitz Uniformwerke buildings demolished april 2007

[werner p.]

The buildings that once housed the famous E.Reitz Uniformwerke at Merksem near Antwerp Belgium. Are being demolished.
I took some pics of how it looked like in 1942 and in 2007..
a few more days and nothing will be left !

More info about E.Reitz can be found on my site



gate in 1942



gate in 2004

[werner p.]

The gate on april 2 2007

[stonemint]

Werner--great site, and a great tribute! I always thought "Werkschutz Reitz" was located in Germany--now I know. Was he a mutzenmacher, by chance?

The only other major uniform maker that I am aware of outside Germany is Knebl & Ditrich, which made boots, flight jackets, and leather greatcoats for the Luftwaffe in Croatia.

[werner p.]

no hats, only uniforms were made there

[boyouLaGleize.]

Maybe it's for extension of the Antwerpse hafen.

[Tino]

Did you try to obtain any artifacts?
You should try to save the smaller doors.

[Wijtman01]

maybe some stuff remained undiscovered in some boxes in the basement muhhaha

[oli4vercammen]

Oh NO! I'll go there tomorrow now I know it's going down.

[werner p.]

pick ups at the gate

I managed to save a part of the gate.. but the bulk already was reserved for a scrap yard dealer. Now with prices of old iron being so high..
In 2004 my brother and I went to visit the plant. With the managers' assistance we were able to enter every storeroom, every cellar and attic. We even visited the boiler rooms !
No trace whatsoever that there ever had been any "uniform" activity.
Only the buildings were the reference points to history.
The logo above the gate was already removed in 1944-1945 and was replaced by the -until last week- present "Vanderelst" logo.

So the only thing left to pick up are ... bricks and memories.

pw

[herrgeezer]

Nice website werner p. Very interesting information that you have gathered.