Eurotopia
1923 - 2 O O 2
brought out on records. Unfortunately, his fondest wish that his
good friend Frank Sinatra might use a few of the numbers he
wrote for recordings was never realised. Alfred Heineken was a
fairly good composer, but was also modest about his musical
gifts. "I don't know if I'm really that musical, but I can't stop
dabbling in music." He did not particularly like classical music.
"Too predictable" in his view. "The new stuff inspires me more
than music that tends to make you nod off."
Alfred Heineken was also interested in knowledge for the sake of
knowledge, especially history. He based some of his commercial
decisions on events from the past. It was therefore hardly
surprising that he created a special prize for history when he
established the Dr. Alfred H. Heineken Prizes (see page 43). This
fascination with history also prompted his critical analysis of the
map of Europe. He conceived the idea of dividing Europe into
seventy-five small states based on the existing regions. His
argument was that the large states had become ungovernable,
made wars more likely and threatened cultural diversity. He
further elaborated on his ideas with the Leiden professors H.W.
van den Doel and H.L. Wesseling, which lead to the brochure
entitled 'The United States of Europe (A Eurotopia?)'. This
brochure argues in favour of a United States of Europe, for
