Lecture: 'The Arrests of Felix Eykens'

Local History Society De Lange Vonder invites you to a special lecture where history, family stories, and regional identity come together.

Guido Klessens takes you on a captivating journey through the life of Felix Eykens, a remarkable figure from the 18th and 19th centuries, whose misfortunes—or as they said back then: 'struggles'—shed a fascinating light on the daily lives of his ancestors.

Felix Eykens is part of a branch of the Eykens family directly connected to Guido Klessens's ancestors. Moreover, his life story is closely related to the world of the Teuten from Luyksgestel: the itinerant merchants and artisans who, for centuries, helped shape the Kempen landscape and its culture. During this lecture, you will discover how Felix Eykens held his own in a time of economic uncertainty and social change, what traces the Eykens family left behind in the region, how the Teuten used their network, craftsmanship, and entrepreneurial spirit to survive, and how personal family history and regional local history reinforce and enrich each other.

Guido weaves together archival research, genealogy, and local history into a lively story that appeals to both experts and curious listeners. The lecture will be held at the Ontmoetingscentrum in Beek en Donk.