Long-Distance Breeding Pigeons

 
This is where it all started. At the beginning of the 80's, pigeons with experience in the sport came to the High Westerwald. They had not only demonstrated their breeding quantities, but also their class in the flights of the European fund programme. There's not enough room here to list all of the pigeons that have advanced the renown of the Hermes Loft. But some of the pigeons have inherited such outstanding qualities as to make a major contribution to the development of this exceptional European loft. And this is the reason why we have described them below. Take the example of:

 
The Steenberger, a red cock with number H 75-2452792, raised by Cees de Groot in Steenburgen not far from Cees de Baat. Cees de Groot was a friend of the legendary Jan Aarden his whole life long. The Steenberger produced a whole series of extraordinary long-distance pigeons for Raymund Hermes.

For instance, the Steenburger produced the Nachtflieger 0647-81-1949 with the Bosttijn hen B-72-3464758 that came with a brother of the Benoni and a sister of the Pasport. The Nachtfliegerin won the 2. national prize at Perpignan and the 3. international prize in Perpignan in 1985. The Steenberger is also a grandfather of the pigeon 01063-88-3163 that won the 1. international prize at Barcelona in 1990 against 28,128 pigeons. The Steenberger also has an outstanding place in the pedigree of the pigeon 06935-92-4184 that won the 1 international prize at Pau in 1996.

 
At this time, Raymund Hermes was not a fan of the red pigeons. That's why he didn't pay any attention to the red bird when he visited Cees de Baat and he only took his blue hen. We have Jean Hausoul's persistence to thank for the Steenberger becoming one of the best breeding pigeons in the Hermes Lofts because a day later he was able to convince Raymund Hermes of the quality of this red bird. The 464, NL 74-1886464, a son from the ancestors from Marcel Braakhuis, the parents of the famous Zwarte Moordenaars. The 464 didn't come to the Westerwald directly from the champion stock from Heer, but by a roundabout way. This was because Raymund Hermes got this super inheritor, its nest sister 463 and also its siblings (the cock 720 and the hen 721) from Jo Gilissen in Cadier en Keer, the fund champions of the Province of Limburg at that time. Jo Gilissen was a long-time friend of Marcel Braakhuis and the descendants of the Zwarte Moordenaars formed the basis of a very successful fund career.

 
It was also the 464 that brought the Hermes Loft on the Upper Sieg River its first international prize-winner in the European long-distance programme, namely the super cock 2081 (0647-80-2081). It also won the first international prize at Pau, thus opening the ring of the ten international prizes for Raymund Hermes. The 464 and its three siblings represent a whole series of winners and As pigeons not only with the Hermes Lofts and a number of other lofts of the national and international programme. They can also be found in a series of pedigrees of prize-winning national and international pigeons. One example is the hen 06935-96-231 that won the 1. international prize at Dax in 1997.