Jean-Pierre has a serious bean for coffee: I hope that my collection will ever go to an art museum

Lichtervelde Jean-Pierre Lisabeth is a collector with a coffee bean... coffee. Over the past 26 years, put his house in order to a real coffee museum. Only all coffee grinders are concerned, the counter is in a thousand pieces. As his collection became too large, he last year an extra floor to be built on the garage.

There are hobby's and there are true collectors who are all about their passion. Jean-Pierre (60) belongs to the latter category. He is almost daily engaged with his collection. Each room is chock-full of koffiespulletjes. In the attic are the grinders, three rows thick, laid out on four levels, with all the walls lined with old recamepanelen of coffee in the veranda are hundreds of larger industrial coffee grinders neatly in a row. And then imagine the kitchen and the living room.

In the garden there are two sheds full. In one of them is even a gigantic industrial roaster. Scattered are glass counters with pre-war koffiepakjes, scoops, filters, surrogaatkoffie, percolators, beans, and so much more. Exact figures, Jean-Pierre - the inventory is in his head - but it's going to be thousands of pieces. The chance that there is in Belgium a larger collection consists is very small.

Each windmill has its own story

“It all started with two koffiemolentjes,” he says. “My cousin lives in Tielt and gathered all longer beer glasses. In 1992, my wife and I along with him to a flea market gone and there I saw an old koffiedoos that I found fit my mills. That's how it started. Since foam I already have 26 years of flea markets and thrift shops looking for old koffiespulletjes. Why coffee? I like the nostalgic atmosphere around it, depends fantastic. Each mill or bowl here has a story. They are tools that are made with love and with love, followed by homemakers. On the buiskachel, potted with the boiler. Cozier and more authentic it is not. I have nothing against modern coffee machines, but which are to go not so beautiful.”