2014-2018 The Great War Centenary. Flanders Fields. A place to remember. CALENDAR 2014-2015
2014-2018 The Great War Centenary. Flanders Fields. A place to remember. UNITED KINGDOM Dover
EUROPE
BELGIUM
Noordzee (North Sea)
NEDERLAND
Zeebrugge Oostende (Ostend)
Duinkerke (Dunkirk) Calais
Antwerpen (Antwerp)
Brugge
(Bruges)
Nieuwpoort Diksmuide
Flanders Fields Poperinge
Zonnebeke
Ieper (Ypres)
Gent
Mechelen
(Ghent)
VLAANDEREN (FLANDERS)
Hasselt
BRUSSEL
(BRUSSELS)
Leuven
DEUTSCHLAND
UNITED KINGDOM Lille Dover
Noordzee (North Sea)
Zeebrugge Oostende WALLONIE (Ostend)
FRANCE
Duinkerke (Dunkirk) Calais
(Antwerp)
Brugge
(Bruges)
Nieuwpoort Diksmuide
Flanders Fields Poperinge
Zonnebeke
Ieper (Ypres)
EUROPE
Antwerpen
Gent
(Ghent)
VLAANDEREN (FLANDERS)
Mechelen BRUSSEL
(BRUSSELS)
Leuven
Lille
FRANCE
BELGIUM
WALLONIE
Flanders Fields. A Place to Remember. 5 Introduction 6 History 8 Ypres 13 Zonnebeke 18 Poperinge 24 Diksmuide 27 Nieuwpoort 28 GoneWest 35 Bruges 36 Ghent 38 Brussels 40 Antwerp 46 Leuven 49 Mechelen 52 Ostend 53
Martyr Cities
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Calendar events 2014-2015
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Discover the battlefields
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Trade and press information
Edition 2013 Note: This document will be regularly updated with new information as it becomes available. The latest version is always available to download from: www. visitflanders.com and has been compiled with information provided to Visit Flanders by partners throughout Belgium and around the world. All information is correct to the best of our knowledge, at the time of going to print (October 2013). However, no liability can be accepted for any loss resulting from use of information contained in this document. Please check opening dates and times before travelling.
For four long years Flanders Fields was the dramatic scene of some of the bloodiest clashes of the First World War, a war which embroiled not only European citizens, but citizens from countries around the world with respective ties to Europe as colonies, dominions, protectorates and territories. By 1914, a landscape of peaceful homes and fields was transformed into a mass battlefield on which a million soldiers were wounded, missing or killed in action and where thousands of citizens were made homeless and left as refugees. The war destroyed entire cities and villages, devastating them beyond recognition. Today, the region’s landscape tells the story of the war through hundreds of monuments and cemeteries of great historical significance for people from all over the world. Inter-
active museums explore the different aspects of the conflict - illuminating battles, daily life and the implications of war. Ceremonies such as the Last Post and ANZAC Day offer vivid testimony to the fact that memories of, and tributes to, the fallen have not been forgotten. On the contrary, the burning desire for peace remains alive. Starting in 2014, we commemorate 100 years since the start of the Great War with a four-year remembrance project set up by the Flemish Government entitled “The Great War Centenary�. Flanders invites visitors to remember the victims of this conflict and reflect on peace and understanding. This brochure gives an overview of all the activities taking place during the 2014-2015 commemorations.
History
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The way to Flanders Fields On 4 August 1914 the German army invaded Belgium. German leaders demanded that King Albert grant them free passage through the country, enabling them to plan a rear attack on the French.The king refused and the infamous Schlieffen plan was launched to impose German military will by force. On 12 August 1914 at Halen, in the Flemish province of Limburg, the German Uhlan cavalry attempted to charge a strong Belgian position with drawn swords, but the German advance was moving slower than its military leaders had hoped. In several locations the invaders believed that
they were being shot at by civilians and it seems likely that the Civil Guard may frequently have been mistaken for civilians, as their uniforms were often incomplete. This is possibly the reason why civilians were executed, in retaliation, in cities such as Dinant, Aarschot and Leuven. Acts of retaliation also included the torching of some 2,000 houses in Leuven, as well as its renowned University Library. The fortress of Antwerp fell soon after, in October 1914, and the weary troops of the weakened Belgian Army withdrew behind the line of the Yser River.
1914: First Battle of Ypres Between 27 and 29 October 1914 the Belgian Army halted the German attacks by flooding the Yser plain, while to the south the British and French fought with great determination to prevent a German breakthrough at Ypres.
When the battle was over, the Germans held a ring of high ground overlooking the city. Both armies dug in and the famous Ypres Salient was born.
1915: Second Battle of Ypres In the spring of 1915 the Germans made a new attempt to break through Ypres, starting by capturing Hill 60. On 22 April 1915 they used chlorine gas for the first time in modern warfare. The result was death, panic and total surprise
and the Allies were forced to withdraw several miles - but there was no breakthrough. The following September the Germans were taken by surprise when the British used gas in their attack at Loos.
1917: Third Battle of Ypres On 7 June 1917, during the Mine Battle of Messines, a total of 19 mines were detonated under the German lines, creating deafening explosions that could be heard as far away as London. The Battle of Passchendaele that subsequently followed was devastating for the Allied front. Over four months 400,000 British soldiers were either killed, wounded or went missing and during the battle they gained just five
miles of ground. The Germans had built almost impregnable concrete bunkers, defended with machine guns. The year 1917 also saw the first use by the Germans of mustard gas or ’ieperiet’ marking an ’advance’ from the use of chlorine and phosgene gases. Mustard gas not only attacked the respiratory system, but also caused hideously painful skin blisters.
1918: German Spring Offensive In the spring of 1918 the German forces were strengthened by the arrival of fresh divisions from the Eastern Front, where the October Revolution of 1917 had led to Russia’s withdrawal from the war. During the Battle of Merkem on 17 April 1918 the Belgian Army fought and withstood a relentless attack by the Germans which resulted in the
Germans being forced back to their original positions by nightfall. However, in the Battle of Mount Kemmel the French were particularly hard pressed and on 25 April this strategically important hill was lost to the Germans and Ypres was almost captured.
28 september - 11 november 1918: The final Offensive By now German reserves had been exhausted and the Americans were starting to arrive on the Western Front in huge numbers. Meanwhile, the German home front began to disintegrate, and from 28 September until the Armistice on 11 November, a series of Allied offensives pushed the Germans back to the Scheldt River.
On 28 September 1918 the Belgian Army attacked the fortress in Houthulst Forest (Battle of Houthulst Forest). Almost every Belgian unit was involved in the attack, which was supported by the British Second Army and a number of French divisions, and by the end of the first day the Belgians had succeeded in capturing the German lines along a front 11 miles wide and 4 miles deep.
11 November 1918: The Armistice At the beginning of November the Armistice was signed in a railway carriage near the French town of Compiègne. The First World War finally came to an end at eleven o’clock on the morning of 11 November 1918.
1919-1967: The Reconstruction After the war most refugees returned home, ruins were cleared away and the battlefields cleaned up. Historic houses and monuments were gradually rebuilt over many
years and the Nieuwerck - an annex to the Cloth Hall in Ypres, now used as part of the town hall - was finally completed in 1967.
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Ypres
Address Cloth Hall Grote Markt 34 8900 Ypres Contact +32 (0) 57 239 220 flandersfields@ieper.be Website www.inflandersfields.be Opening hours 1 April – 15 November: Mon – Sun: 10:00 – 18:00 16 November – 31 March: Tue – Sun: 10:00 – 17:00 25 December & 1 January: closed Price Adults: €9.00 Youth (ages 19-25) €5.00 Children (ages 7-18) €4.00 Children under 7 free Groups (min. 15) €7.00 Schools (min. 15) €4.00 Suppl. to visit the bell tower €2.00 Groups must book at least 14 days in advance.
In Flanders Fields Museum The newly renovated In Flanders Fields Museum takes prime place as a must-see attraction in Ypres. A new permanent exhibition focuses on personal stories of ordinary people and establishes a link to the landscape of the First World War in West Flanders. The museum has doubled in size and now hosts a WWI knowledge centre. More than 2,000 original objects and documents are on display and visitors can follow four personal stories through interactive kiosks. New scenography highlights the most recent museum applications, including touch screens, interactive poppy bracelet, video projection and soundscapes. Everything contributes to a rich experience and submerses visitors in life on the front. In addition, visitors can now climb the bell tower for an extraordinary view of what was once a completely devastated region.
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01/11/13 30/06/14
In Flanders Fields Museum
Exhibition: War and Trauma. Soldiers & Ambulances. 1914-1918.
Double exhibition in Ghent, at the Museum Dr. Guislain, and in Ypres, at the In Flanders Fields Museum At the start of the First World War none of the European armies could cope with the gigantic stream of casualties from this first industrialised conflict. However, by 1917 and 1918 the organisation of care had been optimised and the one true achievement that resulted from this was the (reluctant) recognition of the psychological trauma of warfare. Two Flemish museums, in Ypres and Ghent, are working together to narrate this important and touching story.
On the eve of the great remembrance ceremonies this twin exhibition draws attention to the fate of the people impacted, even after 100 years. The organisation of general care for the patients on the Flanders front during the war is addressed at the In Flanders Fields Museum, Ypres, whilst the Museum Dr. Guislain in Ghent focuses on the various conflicts of the 20th century, with an emphasis on psychiatry. www.inflandersfields.be Please see the practical information for the In Flanders Fields Museum. Visit both museums at a special discounted rate.
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10 In search of the fallen Millions perished in the hell of the Great War, including hundreds of thousands in Belgium. The enormous scale and chaos of the conflict doesn’t make the search for their descendants easy – a considerable number of those who perished could not be identified, and in many cases their bodies were never found. Yet visitors still want a tangible reminder of the fallen soldiers who brought them here. They come to Flanders from all over the world, searching for a connection to their families and the past. But where does their search begin? The best place to begin would be in Ypres. More specifically, the excellent research centre of the In Flanders Fields Museum where they are compiling a meticulously detailed database of the names of the countless dead, pulled together from different lists and archives from across the world. Where possible, the archive gives a brief description of the victim. The list of names will probably never be complete, but it is an excellent starting point in the search for information about those who died. The research centre presides over a wealth of historical sources, and any specific questions about individuals can be dealt with by the very capable archivists, who are happy to deal with enquiries. For answers to questions that cannot be found in Ypres, there are specialised collections such as the archives of the Red Cross that can be consulted. In addition there are comprehensive databases belonging to the national committees for war graves, and lists and registers belonging to towns, cities and local associations, plus special websites, veterans’ organisations and the archives of the military units that served in Flanders. Visitors can book a personal tour of the battlefields, or visit local sites and monuments such as the Menin Gate Memorial, where the names of almost 55,000 lost and fallen soldiers are, both figuratively and literally, engraved in the collective memory.
Some useful links -- http://www.inflandersfields.be/nl/woi-in-vlaanderen/ dodenregister/inleiding -- http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead.aspx (UK) -- http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/cef/ 001042-100.01-e.php (Canada) -- http://www.awm.gov.au/research/people/roll_of_honour/ (Australia) -- http://muse.aucklandmuseum.com/databases/cenotaph/ locations.aspx (New Zealand) -- http://www.abmc.gov/search/wwi.php (USA) -- http://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/default.asp (register)
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In Flanders Fields Museum
Exhibition: The Battle of the Yser and the First Battle of Ypres
Throughout the period of the Centenary, the In Flanders Fields Museum is following the timetable of military events in the Battle of the Yser and the First Battle of Ypres through a series of temporary exhibitions. In the first of this series, the historical account of the events which took place in October-November 2014 is linked to an exhibition containing unique photos from the collection of Robert and Maurice Antony. “When the First World War broke out, brothers Maurice (18831963) and Robert (1885-1966) Antony were both working as photographers in the successful business run by their parents
in Ypres. As the fighting approached Ypres, Maurice fled with his parents to safer ground in France. Robert stayed in Ypres and proceeded to record the city’s systematic destruction through a series of powerful photographs up to the end of 1915. Maurice made sure that these dramatic photos - such as the one documenting the Fire of the Cloth Hall - were picked up by the world press and widely distributed. In late 2012, the In Flanders Fields Museum succeeded in acquiring the collection of original glass negatives shot by the Antony brothers. These negatives will contribute to a moving evocation in 2014 of the First Battle of Ypres and the destruction of centuries-old cultural heritage.” www.inflandersfields.be
Menin Gate
Last Post
Every evening at eight o’clock, a deeply moving ceremony takes place under the vast arch of the Menin Gate in Ypres. The origins of this ceremony can be traced to the British army’s traditional sounding of the trumpet to proclaim the end of the battle. The first time that the ritual was performed
within the official context of a commemoration was 1928. Every evening at eight o’clock sharp, the resounding call of the bugles of the volunteers from the Ypres Last Post Association pay their last respects to the fallen under the Menin Gate. www.lastpost.be
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Menin Gate
Armistice Remembrance
The Armistice is commemorated each year in Ypres with an extensive programme of events. Highlights include the Special Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate at 11.00 and the ‘The Great War Remembered’ concert in St Martin’s Cathedral at 16.30. www.toerisme-ieper.be
German Military Cemetery Langemark Behind its monumental entrance building lie some 44,300 German soldiers, half of whom are buried in a mass grave. Over 3,000 cadets and student volunteers are among the dead, which is why the cemetery is also called the Studentenfriedhof. www.langemark-poelkapelle.be
22/04/15
Ypres and Langemark-Poelkapelle
Centennial commemoration of the first gas attack
This is a solemn remembrance of the first extensive use of chemical weapons in a war, taking place in various locations along the Ypres Salient. www.toerisme-ieper.be
Zonnebeke The Memorial Museum of Passchendaele 1917 On 13 July 2013 the Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 opened its long-awaited extension. The museum focuses on the military history of the war, and in particular the Battle of Passchendaele. In 1917 the town of Passchendaele was the scene of some of the most dramatic events of the Great War. Almost half a million soldiers died, went missing or were seriously injured.
Address Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 Ieperstraat 7/A 8980 Zonnebeke Contact +32 (0)51 77 04 41 toerisme@zonnebeke.be Website www.passchendaele.be Opening hours Daily 09:00 – 17:00 (last entry 16:00) 16 December - 31 January closed Price Adults: €7.50 Children under 12: free Students: €5.00 Groups (min 15 persons): €5,00 Groups must book in advance Tour guides 2 hours:
€ 50.00
Housed in a striking chateau, the museum in Zonnebeke focuses on the material aspects of the war, including uniforms, weaponry, engineered constructions and battlefield archaeology. Its reconstructed dug-out creates a realistic sense of what life would have been like for soldiers working and living in the trenches. The newly opened section of the museum is dedicated to the Battle of Passchendaele, especially the contribution of soldiers from the various Commonwealth countries involved in the battle. A large-scale model explains step by step the phases of the Battle of Passchendaele, with an emphasis on the landscape during the war. Visitors can walk through a historical reconstruction of several types of German and British trenches in the newly-developed museum garden which provides insight into trench evolution, from the first basic trenches to well-advanced systems. The existing dug-out has been extended, with five new ‘rooms’, and a post-war temporary house dating from 1919 will also be reconstructed. The Remembrance Gallery, the last part of the museum extension, is dedicated to the remembrance of the many casualties who suffered and fought for Passchendaele. It includes the famous Falls the Shadows sculpture from New Zealand artist Helen Pollock, made of clay from both Passchendaele and Coromandel, New Zealand. Next to the museum, the Passchendaele Memorial Park will be a new park area devoted to the remembrance of the Great War which will include small, individual, ‘poppy gardens’ dedicated to various nations that were involved in the Battle of Passchendaele. In addition, three new walking trails will be constructed, including one to Tyne Cot Cemetery and another to Polygon Wood. Multimedia applications for smartphones will be developed for visitors to use along the walks.
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Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917
Exhibition: The Old Contemptibles
On 22nd August 1914 a British Expeditionary Force of over 100,000 men saw action in Western Europe for the first time in over 100 years. They succeeded in slowing down the German advance in Belgium, even bringing it to a standstill at Gheluvelt (Zonnebeke) in October and November 1914. However, the cost was high: the loss of half their troops. The surviving ‘Old Contemptibles’ spent the winter in the Plugstreet sector, where the legendary ‘Old Bill’ was created and the famous Christmas Truce took place. The story of the Old Contemptibles during the period of October to November 1914 is brought to life from August to December 2014 in the Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 in a series of unique and complementary exhibitions on different locations. These prestigious exhibitions have been set up in close collaboration with the Royal British Legion, the National Army Museum and various British regimental museums. All have contributed to bringing hundreds of historical pieces back to
Belgium for the first time in a century. The story of the British Old Contemptibles is also linked to the northern retreat of the Belgian Army, particularly in association with the Yser Tower in Diksmuide. The project title - ‘Via Dolorosa’ or ‘The Path of Suffering’ - reflects the thousands of casualties that occurred in Belgium during the first month of the war. During the opening weekend (15-17 August) there will be a unique historical re-enactment by more than 150 actors from seven countries, focusing on the Old Contemptibles and their historic retreat from Mons to Gheluvelt and Plugstreet. In addition, the newly created Passchendaele Memorial Cricket Ground will host its first match, when four international cricket teams will compete for the honour of winning. At the outbreak of war in 1914, all matches were abandoned so that cricket players could join the army, and Arthur Edward James Collins, who achieved a record score of 628 runs ‘not out’, was one of the first major cricketers of the era to be killed on 11 November 1914. www.passchendaele.be
24/08/15 15/12/15
Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917
Exhibition: Children of the Empire
In April 2015 the Memorial Museum Passchendaele will inaugurate a remarkable exhibition about international communication during the First World War. It will tell the story of messengers, pigeons, dogs, telephony, telegraphy and wireless audio connections as well as the encryption of messages. For example, during this time, the Allied forces used the language of Choctaw Indians as a code because the Germans could not decipher their dialect!
In line with earlier exhibitions, the museum will display hundreds of unique items, but the main attraction will be original coding machines that visitors can use to send messages in Morse code and to call each other using authentic audio connections! The emphasis will be on the unique ways in which Canadian, Australian and New Zealand soldiers communicated with one another at the Front. There will also be a more general display demonstrating a link to the way we communicate today. www.passchendaele.be
25/10/14
Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917
Double ceremony
A double ceremony will take place on 25 October to mark the centenary of the first battle of Ypres: in Gheluvelt (Worcesters & South Wales Borderers) in the morning and at Zandvoorde (Household Cavalry) in the afternoon. During the evenings of 25 and 26 October a concert entitled Home @ Xmas, a new musical creation by Michaël Vancraeynest in cooperation
with various musical youth organisations, will be held in Zonnebeke. The theme of the concert is the ‘Old Contemptibles of 1914’. The concerts will be held in Zandvoorde Church (25 October) and Geluveld Church (26 October). www.passchendaele.be
Through Flemish cemeteries Flanders is peppered with military cemeteries, the majority of which belong to the British who occupied the southernmost part of the Belgian front and fought three bloody battles there. After the war, the British government decided not to repatriate the British dead, but to have them buried on Belgian soil. The impressive cemeteries of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) are characterised by the long rows of white memorial stones embedded in the landscape. In the shadow of the Cross of Sacrifice and the Stone of Remembrance, which hold a permanent place on the sites of the CWGC, you will find the individual graves of soldiers from the four corners of the former British Empire – British, New Zealanders, Australians, Canadians, South Africans - and also troops from India and the Caribbean. Resting places of the fallen are marked by the symbols of their respective beliefs, their regiment and rank, and their date of death. The graves of unknown soldiers are adorned with the famous words of the writer and poet Rudyard Kipling:”Known unto God”. The CWGC organises remembrance ceremonies and relies on a network of volunteers to maintain the graves. The German cemeteries, which are looked after by the German War Graves Commission, tell another story. The German dead, whose burial places lay scattered, were brought together at four large sites, or moved to locations in the hinterland. The German cemeteries in the Belgian Westhoek create a subdued impression, the modest mass graves marked only with flat gravestones and occasional statues such as the Grieving Parents, a moving work of sculpture by the German expressionist Käthe Kollwitz. The French army’s activities, however, were limited on the Flemish side of the ‘Schreve’, as the French-Belgian border is known in the local dialect. Nevertheless you will still find military cemeteries and memorials here for the French and their colonial troops such as the Algerian Zouaves and the Moroccan Goumiers. The monuments and rows of little white crosses of the French sites are reminiscent of the single American WWI cemetery in Belgium, which is looked after by the American Battle Monuments Commission. American president Woodrow Wilson ensured that the fallen soldiers were repatriated and given a final resting place in their country of origin.
The Belgian military cemeteries are spread out across the entire country – foreign soldiers were often buried at these cemeteries, too. These sites can be recognised by their tall obelisks, large blue-stone tombstones and the national tricolour flag. Most Belgian casualties fell in the Battle of the Yser in 1914 and the final bloody offensive in 1918. Some were buried in the graveyards of their local churches. Each military cemetery has a different character and yet they all share one thing in common: they are places where history is both silently and deafeningly present.
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ANZAC Day 25 April 2015 marks the day, exactly 100 years on, that Australian and New Zealand soldiers landed at Gallipoli, and where their participation in the Great War started. Both nationalities were present in Flanders in 1917, taking part in the brutal battle of Passchendaele. ANZAC Day traditionally begins with a Dawn Service at Polygon Wood, followed by an ANZAC breakfast for all attendees. On ANZAC Day, UBA (the organisation representing over 3,000 radio amateurs in Belgium) will broadcast an international message of peace and reconciliation. On Sunday 26 April the Flanders Scottish Memorial day will focus on Scottish traditions and communities in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Many Scottish battalions were established, especially in the Canadian army, adopting the traditions of their British sister regiments. Designed to appeal to a broad section of the public, the event will include highland games, bagpipes and Scottish gastronomy. www.passchendaele.be
10/11/14
Crest Farm Canadian Memorial
Passchendaele - Ceremony 1914-1917-2014
A traditional remembrance service will commemorate the end of the Battle of Passchendaele with a ceremony at the Crest Farm Canadian Memorial and a torch-lit parade to Passchendaele church. Afterwards, an outdoor reception will be held for all attendees. Exactly 100 years after the Great War began, the ceremony will focus on the lives of some of the ‘Old Contemptibles’ who returned here in 1917 and were eventually killed. www.passchendaele.be
13/12/14
Zonnebeke – Broodseinde
Forgotten Winter: French ceremonies
The role of the French in the opening months of the war will be marked by two ceremonies, one in the morning at the French memorial of Broodseinde, and one in the afternoon at the French cemetery St Charles de Potyze in Ypres. A special midday event starts at 11:00, focusing on the stories of some of the French soldiers and their experiences during the first winter of the war in Flanders. www.passchendaele.be
Address Vijfwegestraat 1 8980 Zonnebeke Contact +32 (0)51 77 04 41 toerisme@zonnebeke.be Website www.passchendaele.be Opening hours February – November daily: 10:00 -18:00 Price Free entrance Tour guides 1 hour: ₏30.00 Large parking site behind the cemetery with restroom facilities
Tyne Cot Cemetery This is the largest Commonwealth War Graves Commission military cemetery in continental Europe, with almost 12,000 tombstones. The back wall of the graveyard is inscribed with the names of 34,957 missing soldiers who fell in the Battle for Passchendaele. The graveyard can be reached from the Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 along a 3 km (2 mile) walking and cycling path.
Poperinge
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Address Lijssenthoek Cemetery – Visitor Centre Boescheepseweg 35A 8970 Poperinge Contact +32 (0)57 34 66 76 toerisme@poperinge.be Website www.lijssenthoek.be Opening hours Open all year daily: 09:00 – 18:00 The centre is unstaffed Price Free access Tour guides Book a guide at the Tourist Office Fully accessible to disabled visitors
Application Diaries 14-18
With a smartphone in hand, visitors can follow the story of Nurse Jane, great grandmother of Guillaume the researcher and Tom the gardener, by taking a tour of ten interesting locations, each with its own story. Images bring the field hospital to life, while sounds evoke noises of the war. A free download is available from Appstore and Google Play.
www.1418remembered.co.uk
Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery – Visitor Centre From 1915 to 1920 the hamlet of Lijssenthoek (Boescheepseweg) was the site of the largest evacuation hospital along the Ypres Salient. Today, Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery bears witness to more than four years of warfare, with the graves of 10,784 soldiers. The Visitor Centre, situated next to the cemetery, offers information on this unique site, including details about the daily life in the hospital and the (re)creation of the cemetery.
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Military Cemetery Visitor Centre
Lijssenthoek Terminus
Lijssenthoek Terminus is a musical theatre production based on the personal stories behind the cemetery’s 10,784 headstones. Appealing to a large audience, this multilingual play will be presented as a universal drama, full of emotion, and is being brought to the stage by a cast of major actors and musicians. It will be shown in a unique setting: an open-air theatre erected at the Visitor Centre, next to the cemetery. Address Tourism Poperinge Grote Markt 1 8970 Poperinge
Website www.lijssenthoek.be www.toerismepoperinge.be
Contact +32 (0)57 34 66 76 toerisme@poperinge.be
Opening hours May – June – July 2015 Performance times vary
Price TBC
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Execution site/Death cells During the Great War the courtyard of Poperinge Town Hall was used as an execution site and several British soldiers faced the firing squad here. Today it is an emblematical site for reflection and remembrance. Visitors to the death cells are confronted with a video image of a soldier waiting to be shot at dawn and can read graffiti left by prisoners. Address Tourism Poperinge Grote Markt 1 8970 Poperinge
Website www.toerismepoperinge.be
Price Free access
Contact +32 (0)57 34 66 76 toerisme@poperinge.be
Opening hours
Tour guides Book a guide at the tourist office
Daily 06:00 – 22:00
Address Talbot House Gasthuisstraat 43 8970 Poperinge Contact Tel +32 (0)57 33 32 28 info@talbothouse.be Website www.talbothouse.be Opening hours Tuesday-Sunday 10:00 – 17:30 Monday closed Price Adults €8.00 Children €5.00 Groups €6.00 (advance bookings only) Schools €5.00 Trade €6.00 Tour guides There are no guided tours, but for groups a general introduction to the Talbot House can be provided on request (advance notice required).
Talbot House: Every Man’s Club The most well-known soldiers’ club of the Great War is being renovated. The garden has already received a makeover and various rooms in the house have been restored, including the chapel, kitchen and hall. A brand new tablet application has also been developed: Tubby’s Story Tablets are digital guides that invite the visitor to follow them through the museum, garden and house. The application helps each guest to navigate the grounds, pausing along the way to tell stories about Talbot House. Besides a museum, Talbot House is still the Every Man’s Club it has always been. Visitors can enjoy a cup of tea in the canteen or book a room and spend the night in its guest house! The 100th anniversary of Talbot House will be celebrated on 15 December 2015.
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24/04/15 31/08/15
Domain and manor De Lovie
Wind Dangerous: Festival with sound, light and an artistic circuit
On 22 April 1915 the German army launched the second battle of the Salient with a new weapon: gas. The attack started at 17:30 and by 20:00 the first casualties had reached Poperinge. As the wind blew from the East, there was a real danger of gas spreading over the area and the town was on alert. On the outer wall of the Town Hall, a sign was erected with the warning ‘Wind dangerous’. The wind as power, as a source of energy, as a menace, as an omen, as a conductor of odours and colours, as a source of inspiration for artists: these are the starting points of the Wind Dangerous Festival. Odour artist Peter De Cupere is the curator of the artistic circuit, and an international production house will create a sound and light event on-site. The event will be staged in the historic setting of the Lovie domain, a manor house in which the British forces installed their headquarters, and is part of Poperinge Terminus, a global spectacle featuring a number of WWI events. Address Kasteeldomein De Lovie Krombeekseweg 82 8970 Poperinge
Website www.toerismepoperinge.be
Price TBD
Contact +32 (0)57 34 66 76 toerisme@poperinge.be
Opening hours
Tour guide On demand
Sound and Light event TBC Art Track 14:00 – 17:00
18/03/15 13/09/15
Kinderbrouwerij Reningelst
Poperinge Terminus: Illustrated by the war.
Exhibition – Cycling trail
Local and international illustrators will display their artistic interpretations of the story of the war, placed in the landscape of the past and of today. The exhibition will be accompanied by a smartphone application offering a guided tour experience.
06/09/14 05/09/15
Railway station and surroundings
Poperinge Terminus - L.69 Railway line Poperinge-Hazebrouck
Exhibition - application
Poperinge’s railway station was a major hub and central crossroads for medical evacuation to France. Not only were soldiers and freight moved to and from the frontline through railway line L.69, but the wounded, sick and refugees also passed through. An outdoor exhibition, “Heavy Traffic”, focuses on railway L.69. Highlights are the enlargement of a railway station scene at a 1:1 scale and a model of the same scene (diorama). A multilingual digital application tells the story of L.69, departing from the railway station and taking the visitor on a cycling trip or hike to 15 WWI sites where images from the past appear and old railway maps provide an ingenious network. The launch of the application is linked with the reissue of an authentic roadmap. This event is part of Poperinge Terminus. Address Tourism Poperinge Grote Markt 1 8970 Poperinge
Opening hours 6 September 2014 – 5 September 2015 Daily: 09:00 – 17:00
Contact +32 (0)57 34 66 76
Tour guide On demand
Price Diorama Adults €3.00 Children (≤12 years) €1.00 Family ticket €5.00 Groups €2.00 Hire iPad for open air exhibition €5.00
Website www.toerismepoperinge.be
Diksmuide
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Address Ijzerdijk 49 8600 Diksmuide Contact +32 (0)51 50 02 86 info@aandeijzer.be Website www.aandeijzer.be Opening hours 1 April – 30 September 09:00 - 18:00 (last entry 17:30) 1 October – 31 March 09:00 - 17:00 (last entry 16:30) Weekends and public holidays open from 10:00 Closed: 24, 25, 26 & 31 December 1 & 2 January Three weeks after the Christmas holiday Closed from the 18 November 2013 until the end of February 2014 for refurbishing Price Adults €7.00 Ages 65 or over €5.00 Ages 7-25 €1.00 Children under 7 free Groups (min. 20) €5.00
Yser Tower, Museum at the river the Yser Within walking distance of the town’s market place, the Gate of Peace, the Crypt and the Yser Tower together form what is known as the European Peace domain. This 22-floor museum will give visitors an idea of life during the First World War. They can smell the chloral and mustard gas, feel the fear of soldiers in the Death Trench and marvel at the magnificent view over Diksmuide and the entire Westhoek region from the top of the tower, 84m/273ft high. The museum will reopen in February/March 2014 following refurbishment. Further work, including new car park and picnic area, is planned.
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Death Trench This site where, regiment after regiment, the entire Belgian army toiled, fought and struggled for life, was the heart of the resistance until the morning of the glorious offensive of 28 September 1918. It remains one of the most evocative reminders of the war in the Westhoek. A kilometre (0.6 mile)-long network of revetments, saps and dug-outs, the trench was one of the most dangerous Belgian positions on the Western Front, situated just 50 metres (55 yards) from a German bunker. As a result, it was subjected to almost constant fire from German snipers and machine guns. This site will be upgraded in 2013 and 2014. Address Ijzerdijk 65 8600 Diksmuide
Contact +32 (0)51 50 53 44
Opening hours 1 April – 15 November Daily 10:00 – 17:00 (last entry 16:30) 16 November – 31 March Tuesday & Friday 09:30 – 16:00 (last entry 15:30) Closed between 25 December and 3 January
Price free enterance
26 Peaceful Cycling Cycling in the Westhoek is a really pleasant way to discover this historic area. Visitors can ride through fields, hills and picturesque villages - some of which still bear the scars of the Great War - and visit forts, trenches, cemeteries, museums, monuments and much more. On their journey cyclists will begin to discover the key historic role of this landscape and its strategic location – a landscape that, 100 years ago, was a mire of mud and blood. Visitors may decide to head to the trenches with a guide, hire a bike and plan their own journey, or choose from the many themed routes through the heart of Flanders’ fields. One such cycling route is the famous Ypres Salient, the pocket-shaped battlefield on the Western Front, where, in 1914, the Germans got more than they bargained for when they fought here against Allied troops. There’s no scorched earth to be found any more, but there are impressive views and numerous sites and monuments that make this dark chapter in history distinctly tangible. On the journey, cyclists will notice the changes in the landscape with the help of aerial photos from past and present. This themed route is available in English. More information about the various Great War cycling routes is available from tourist information centres or the website www.flandersfields.be/en
Vladslo German Military Cemetery This is the final resting place of some 25,638 German soldiers, known as Vladslo, in Praetbos forest. On display at the cemetery is a moving sculpture, The Grieving Parents, by Käthe Kollwitz, a major German expressionistic artist. She created it out of personal sorrow and love for her 18-year- old son Peter, who was killed in the war. Address Houtlandstraat 3 8600 Vladslo-Diksmuide
Opening hours Between sunrise and sunset
Price free enterance
Nieuwpoort
Address Kustweg 8620 Nieuwpoort Contact +32 58 22 44 22 info@nieuwpoort.be Website www.nieuwpoort.be Opening hours 10:00-17:00 Price Adults €5.00 Children over 12 €3.00 Children under 12 €1.00 Groups €4.00 Schools €3.00 Adults over 65 €4.00 Tour guides €25.00 + €1.00per person
Ganzenpoot (Goose Foot Lock Complex) An innovative visitor centre is being built in Nieuwpoort, on the site of the King Albert Monument, next to the Ganzenpoot (Goose Foot) lock complex. The centre will be dedicated to the deliberate flooding of the Yser plain, during the Battle of the Yser, to stop the German advance towards the French Channel Ports and the supply lines of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France. The top of the King Albert Monument offers visitors an impressive view of the plain. The BBC/HBO drama series Parade’s End, based on four novels by Ford Madox Ford, was partly filmed in Nieuwpoort and other areas of the Westhoek.
GoneWest:
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Four year programme of events in Flanders Fields Remembering after one hundred years
In English, ‘to go west’ is a euphemism for ‘passing away’, but the expression acquired another meaning during World War I. The Allied forces, who occupied the western part of the Western Front, literally brought their fallen and injured soldiers to the west. Furthermore, with the German invasion, the war moved from east to west throughout the whole country. GoneWest is therefore the name that was chosen for the artistic commemoration of the Great War in the province of West Flanders, and will begin in 2014.
The heart of GoneWest
The focus of GoneWest is the creation of a complete list of all war victims who died in Flanders, both civilians and soldiers: approximately 600,000 names from numerous archives and databases. This list will be used for a host of educational and artistic projects that will provide a visual representation of the names and histories, while also seeking to establish a link with the present.
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2014 – 2018
‘Coming World Remember Me’ sculptural art project
As part of the GoneWest memorial project, 600,000 parti cipants will take part in the realisation of ComingWorldRememberMe. This imposing art installation will reflect on the senselessness of war: Yesterday, today and tomorrow. The project involves 600,000 sculptures that will be moulded from clay and fired in ovens until they reach ‘stone temperature’. They will form part of the large land art project being developed by vzw Kunst with the help of artist Koen Vanmechelen. Each of the sculptures represents one of the 600,000 victims that lost their lives in Belgium during the First World War. This land art installation, which will ultimately cover three hectares, will be worked on every day during the period between 2014 and 2018. In the spring of 2018, the artwork will be integrated into a site that saw some of the heaviest fighting during the First World War: the no man’s land situated between the front lines surrounding Ypres. This project is aimed at bringing people together and encouraging them to reflect on the past, the present and the future. To do this, vzw Kunst is organising workshops that focus on both education as well as the creation of a personal sculpture for participants throughout the entire world.
A workshop lasts 2.5 to 3 hours and consists of four segments: an instructional portion, the actual making of the sculptures, the certification of each of the sculptures with a dog tag, and the firing of the sculptures. Each of the parti cipants will be able to identify their sculpture by its dog tag, which will bear the name and nationality of the sculptor. Each dog tag will also include a number that refers to the name of a specific victim in the International List of Names, which is digitally assembled by the In Flanders Fields Museum in Ypres. This list compiles the names of all those killed in action on Belgian soil within the 1914-1918 period. By associating the List of Names with the sculptures, all of the parti cipants in ComingWorldRememberMe will carry a small piece of history with them. Several different workshop packages are available to parti cipants, ranging from a half-day workshop in the studios of vzw Kunst, to an actual Peace Week in the Westhoek region and mobile workshops held at schools. www.comingworldrememberme.be
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17/10/14
Light Front/Flooding of the Plains
On 17 October 2014 GoneWest will organise a major interactive event called Lichtfront ’14 (Light Front ’14), after which the Belgian rock singer Arno will perform at a concert near the locks at Ganzenpoot in Nieuwpoort. Light Front ’14 will follow the Front Line as it existed at the time of the ceasefire in the autumn of 1914, after the flooding of the plains at the end of October that year. At night, troops from both sides could see each other’s lights along the Front. During the first weekend of GoneWest a light front will be recreated - by 8,750 participants with flaming torches along the stretch of land between Nieuwpoort beach and Ploegsteert. Artistic fire installations will also be set up in the nine municipalities involved, inspired by the historical backdrop of each (Ganzenpoot in Nieuwpoort, the Yser Tower in Diksmuide, the Three Canals in Houthulst, the Cross of Atonement in Ypres, the German Soldiers’ Cemetery in Langemark-Poelkappelle, Tyne Cot Cemetery in Zonnebeke, Bayernwald in Heuvelland, the football pitch in Mesen and the Memorial to the Missing in Ploegsteert). In addition, the names of the 600,000 people
who died on Belgian soil will be projected on to the Albert I monument in Nieuwpoort, the Yser Tower in Diksmuide and the Belfry in Ypres. ‘Light Front ’14’ will be a deeply reflective moment, with all attention focused on the victims of this conflict. After Light Front ‘14, the first GoneWest concert will be held in Nieuwpoort, at the location where the locks at Veurne-Ambacht were opened and the Yser plain was flooded. The concert will feature the much-acclaimed Ostend musician Arno, performing new work inspired by the flooding of the plains, as well as music from his huge repertoire. His combination of raw blues, ethnic influences, rock, reggae and chanson has long placed Arno firmly at the forefront of the Belgian music scene. Performing live, he will be supported by a cast of topclass musicians, making this opening concert an unmissable event. www.gonewest.be
18/10/14
Nieuwpoort
The Flooding of the Plains
At the end of October 1914 the German advance came to an abrupt halt when The Battle of the Yser was brought to an end by the flooding of the Yser plain. In Nieuwpoort the locks at Veurne-Ambacht were opened, causing the water level between the Yser and the railway embankment at Nieuwpoort-Diksmuide to rise, thus bringing the war to a standstill. On Saturday 18 October a one-off event will be organised in the area around the lock complex in Ganzenpoot. Four
08/11/14
Diksmuide
Almost exactly 100 years later, a musical event will be organised on 8 November 2014 as part of the GoneWest artistic commemoration programme in the province of West Flanders. In remembrance of the Fall of Diksmuide, the German band Einstürzende Neubauten has composed a completely new piece which it will perform for the first time in Diksmuide.
Houthulst, Zonnebeke & Wervik
www.gonewest.be
The Fall of Diksmuide
On 10 November 1914 the Belgian bridgehead of Diksmuide fell into German hands after a brief battle involving troop movements. During the subsequent few years Diksmuide continued to form part of the German line, and the town was reduced to rubble and bomb craters from persistent Belgian artillery fire and bombardments.
12/12/14 14/12/14
Belgian bands - Amatorski, Het Zesde Metaal, Marockin’ Brass and Ozark Henry – will, for the first time, play new pieces composed around the flooding of the plain as well as some of their earlier work. The combination of these four unique bands will ensure a special and varied event, full of exciting contemporary compositions in which reflection will be of key importance.
This famous Berlin avant-garde group, featuring singer/ guitarist Blixa Bargeld, is known for its experiments with industrial sounds. Having grown up in West Berlin in the 1980s and in the Zeitgeist that existed at that time, the members of Einstürzende Neubauten ‘literally’ deconstruct old objects, meanings, history and buildings and convert them into a new futuristic sound in which apocalyptic fantasies often play a central role. Combining the historic commemoration of the fall of Diksmuide with an intense and profound musical composition by Einstürzende Neubauten will certainly offer a unique contemporary performance in a distinctive setting. www.gonewest.be
The Truce 1914-2014
On these dates Stijn Meuris, Wouter Vandenabeele, Micheline Van Hauthem, Lady Angelina and Jorunn Bauweraerts (Laïs) will appear in musical performances related to the Christmas Truce.
Contact info@deboot.be
Website www.deboot.be
32 18/12/14 22/12/14
Christmas Truce
The Christmas season of 1914 saw a sudden ceasefire during which German, British, French and Belgian soldiers fraternised with each other. At various places along the front line Christmas greetings and presents were exchanged, carols were sung and a football match was even played near Mesen. Between 18 and 22 December 2014 this special moment of the First World War will be commemorated in music through several new productions inspired by the story. On 20 December British artist John Cale will give his musical interpretation of the Christmas Truce in Mesen. Following his years as a founding member of The Velvet Underground as well as his work as a producer for rock acts such as Patti Smith and The Stooges, Cale developed an impressive solo career for himself. His body of work is packed with historical references (such as Paris 1919 from 1974 and Words for the Dying from 1989) and is exceptionally varied, with its own critical, original and contemporary view of the world. Like the poetry of one of his great influences - Dylan Thomas Cale’s music is populated by restless souls living in landscapes governed by tyranny, war and compromise. Cale will give a unique concert of pieces not previously performed, inspired
25/04/15 26/04/15
Zonnebeke
by the cultural and historical legacy of the war, particularly the Christmas Truce, together with some of his own work. GoneWest will also organise three performances by Alan Stivell. Starting back in 1966, Stivell’s work brought about a renaissance of Celtic music, particularly after the release of his album Reflets in 1970. The use of Gaelic and Welsh is typical of his work. He will perform in three shows in West Flanders which will feature previously unheard pieces inspired by the unique story of the Christmas Truce. Finally, Virginia McKenna and The Voices at the Door (featuring Coope Boyes and Simpson, Fi Fraser, Jo Freya and Georgina Boyes) will take part in the first showing of The Best Christmas Present in the World, by Michael Morpurgo, in Ypres Cathedral on 22 December. Morpurgo is a renowned author of stories for children and young people, and is particularly well known for his book War Horse, which was successfully made into a stage play and subsequently a film by Steven Spielberg. www.gonewest.be
ANZAC Day 2015
On 25 April 1915 Australia and New Zealand entered the war, landing on the Turkish peninsula of Gallipoli. This date has become known as ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) Day. April 1915 also marked the first time the Canadian forces were attacked with weaponised gas, from Sint-Juliaan to Zonnebeke.
One hundred years after these events, a series of evening concerts will be organised as part of GoneWest, featuring musicians from Australia, New Zealand and Canada. These artists will draw inspiration from the historical events and perform new works in the grounds of the castle in Zonnebeke, site of the renewed Passchendaele 1917 Memorial Museum. Top artists will be invited to perform during these evenings. www.gonewest.be
The symbolic power of the poppy Few symbols are so deeply entwined with our memory of the Great War as the Papaver rhoeas or corn poppy. It is a moving experience for anyone attending a ceremony on Remembrance Day: the eye meets a sea of red poppies, the common thread that holds everything together. Each year, volunteers in America and the Commonwealth assemble tens of millions of paper poppies that transform war memorials into a red mosaic on 11 November. But what exactly are the origins of this powerful symbol? Is the poppy a mere adornment, or does it hold a deeper meaning?
it had a chance to blossom. The words of his poem touched the hearts of a great swathe of readers, and a new emblem was born. John McCrae wouldn’t live to see the public adoption of his moving poem – he died in 1918 from the complications of a lung infection. That same year a young American woman pinned a silk poppy upon her chest for the first time. Her symbolic gesture was copied across the Commonwealth nations and soon the poppy became recognised as the official memorial symbol for the victims of the Great War. Join us in creating a worldwide poppy field www.facebook.com/flandersfields1418
The origins of the remembrance poppy go back to the spirit of a Canadian doctor and officer, James McCrae, who tended the first victims of the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915. McCrae responded to the loss of a good friend in the brutal battle by writing the now famous poem, In Flanders’ Fields. Since its composition, it has become an inseparable part of the cultural heritage of the Great War. McCrae was inspired by the innumerable poppies he saw growing on the otherwise barren front, where thousands of soldiers had been mown down in their prime. A military graveyard full of poppies is full of so many hidden meanings – for the poppy is irrepressible yet ephemeral, sad yet uplifting; a vulnerable flower that covers the cornfields where so many young men gave their lives. For McCrae, the poppy was a symbol of remembrance for a generation that was ‘nipped in the bud’ before
23/03/15
Sint-Maarten Square, Ypres
Multimedia Show in Ypres
To mark the end of the Second Battle of Ypres on 28 May 1915, a multimedia dance show will be premièred on the SintMaarten square in Ypres on 23 May 2015. This internationally acclaimed contemporary show will have deep thematic links with the gas attacks, which took place in combat for the first
time. It will act as a reminder of where we have come from, who we are today and where we are heading in the future within the vulnerable structure we call ‘the individual’. www.gonewest.be
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09/07/15
Ypres
The 30,000th Last Post
The Last Post has been played under the Menin Gate in Ypres since 1928 to remember the 54,896 soldiers and officers of the British Commonwealth who are listed as missing in action. Every day, rain or shine, the Ypres buglers, who are members of the local fire brigade, play their ode to the fallen. On 9 July 2015 this military bugle call will be sounded for the 30,000th time. For this occasion, GoneWest is organising an event under the auspices of producer/project patron Wim Opbrouck. Activities will be organised in the closed surroundings of the fire service barracks, as the fire brigade perform for their Ypres colleagues, against a serene backdrop. www.gonewest.be
18/12/15 20/12/15
Poperinge
Piano Festival Poperinge
The garrison town of Poperinge was an important place for British troops during World War 1. Here, they could take refuge from the turmoil of the war, gathering around a piano in Talbot House and letting the music soothe their souls. The two-day festival will offer a varied programme of different genres with well-known pianists performing new works on the theme of the war. Local and amateur pianists will also be given a platform for performance. www.gonewest.be
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Bruges
14/10/14 22/02/15
Stadshallen
The War in Pictures / Bruges at War
Exactly 100 years after the German invasion of Bruges, the city is commemorating the Great War with three exhibitions. This global conflict is being shown within its Bruges context as well as its wider international framework, from both historical and artistic perspectives. One exhibition depicts the secret history behind an occupied city that also functioned as an operating base for the war at sea. It zooms in on daily life in wartime Bruges and widens the canvas to take in the global dimension of the war. Two photography exhibitions continue this broader perspective and propel us forward to the present day. Works by contemporary photographers form a counterpoint to archive photography. An occupied city caught up in the machinery of war Prof. Sophie De Schaepdrijver, historian and internationally-renowned specialist on the Great War, offers us a fascinating glimpse into life in occupied Bruges. Photographs, posters, portraits, artefacts, uniforms and other objects tell the tale of Bruges in a time of war, from the mobilisation of July 1914, to the post-war commemorations of 1919 and 1920. Among other topics, the exhibition covers military operations, the difficulties of daily life, attempts to find small comforts and ‘normality’, resistance and collaboration, the joy of liberation, honour and glory, grief and mourning. Maps, wall texts and multimedia set the city’s story within the wider context of the world at war. Curator: Prof. Sophie De Schaepdrijver The timeless power of historical images Magnum photographer Carl De Keyzer brings to life another secret history with his contemporary approach to historical First World War photography. In collaboration with David
Van Reybrouck, De Keyzer has selected glass negatives from all over the world and, with the aid of scans, strives to obtain the purest photographic images possible. Going even further, he puts himself in the position of the photographer: what did he or she wish to portray? How would he or she have liked to see the pictures displayed? The result is not a strictly academic approach, but rather a modern one in which the photographer’s vision and the power of the image prevail. The photographs were sourced from the collections of both major and smaller institutions. Contributors include the Imperial War Museum (London), the ECPAD (the photo library of the French Ministry of Defence, Paris), the Australian War Museum, the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (Brussels), the documentation centre of the In Flanders Fields Museum (Ypres) and the Bruges City Archives. Curator: Carl De Keyzer; co-curator: David Van Reybrouck, in collaboration with Inge Henneman Contemporary photographers on the theme of war Carl De Keyzer presents his own work alongside that of nine fellow Magnum photographers: Alec Soth (USA), Thomas Dworzak (Germany), Alex Majoli (Italy), Mark Power (UK), Antoine D’Agatha (France), Nikos Economopoulos (Greece), Chien-Chi Chang (Austria/Taiwan), Gueorgui Pinkhassov (Russia) and Trent Parke (Australia). They reflect - in their own way and from the perspectives of their very different backgrounds - on the topic of war, and depict conflict as a global and timeless phenomenon. Curator: Carl De Keyzer www.bruges1418.be
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Ghent
01/11/15 01/04/16
Sint-Pietersabdij
War in Short Pants
The First World War was more than just trenches and mustard gas. For the first time in history, the entire society was under arms as the war dominated every aspect of daily life. Even children were affected as, for many of them, the world changed when their fathers were suddenly gone or when they had to flee their familiar surroundings. And even through seemingly innocent channels like literature, toys and colouring books, the Great War entered their little worlds. Until the early 20th century, children were regarded as (and treated as) miniature adults, as a standard segment of society. This changed with the war, for it was during this first global conflagration that children began to be regarded as individual subjects who could be politically manipulated. Thus, children began to play an important role in the wartime Address Historische Huizen Ghent – Sint-Pietersabdij Sint-Pietersplein 9 9000 Ghent
press. The Western nations found it necessary and even useful to involve children in the ‘glory’ of the battlefields. To this end, the same techniques and narrative forms that children had enjoyed in peacetime were used, including comic strips, adventure novels, animal stories, colouring books and toys. In this way the destructive effects of war were inflicted specifically on children as well as on adult society. The War in Short Pants exhibition uses literature, comic books, magazines and toys to show how big an impact the Great War had on the lives of children and their families, thereby indirectly demonstrating how the social status of the child in Western society was changing.
Contact +32 (0)9 243 97 30 sintpietersabdij@gent.be
Website www.sintpietersabdijgent.be
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01/11/13 30/06/14
Museum Dr. Guislain,
War and Trauma Soldiers and Psychiatrists 1914-2014
Double exhibition in Ghent, Museum Dr. Guislain, and in Ypres, In Flanders Fields Museum At the start of the First World War, none of the European armies could cope with the gigantic stream of casualties from this first industrialised conflict. However, by 1917 and 1918 the organisation of care had been optimised. The one true achievement that resulted from this was the (reluctant) recognition of the psychological trauma of warfare.
Two Flemish museums, in Ypres and Ghent, are working together to narrate this important and touching story. On the eve of the great remembrance ceremonies of the war, this twin exhibition draws attention to the fate of the people impacted, even after a hundred years. The organisation of general care for the sick on the Flanders front during the war is addressed at the In Flanders Fields Museum, Ypres, whilst the Museum Dr. Guislain in Ghent focuses on the various conflicts of the 20th century, with the emphasis on psychiatry.
Address Museum Dr. Guislain Jozef Guislainstraat 43 9000 Gent
Website www.museumdrguislain.be
Contact info@museumdrguislain.be
Opening hours Tuesday - Friday 09:00-17:00 Saturday and Sunday 13:00-17:00 Closed Mondays and 24, 25 & 31 December and 1 January
Price Adults: €8.00 Children under 12 free Youth 13 – 21 €1.00 Youth 22 – 25 €3.00 Group rate €6.00 Groups need to book at least 14 days in advance. Visitors to both exhibitions in Ypres and Ghent receive a discount
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38
Brussels
IT’S OUR HISTORY ! Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and of Military History - www.expo14-18.be
© Corbis
BRUSSELS / 7.02.2014 > 26.04.2015
07/02/14 16/04/15
Royal Museum of the Army and of Military History
EXPO: 14-18, it’s our history! presented by
For the First World War 100th anniversary commemorations, the Royal Army Museum is organising a major exhibition entitled ’14-18, it’s our history!’ starting 7 February 2014. Based on the rich and unique collections of the Royal Army Museum, the exhibition will enable the public to discover all aspects of the conflicts which left Europe battered and weakened, and place the history of the war in a broader context. The war and everyday life during the German occupation will constitute an important part of the exhibition, but most of all, the visitor will discover how this conflict profoundly Address Royal Museum of the Army and of Military History Parc du Cinquantenaire 3 1000 Brussels Contact +32 2 549 60 49 info@expo14-18.be Website www.expo14-18.be Opening hours Tuesday - Friday 09:00 – 17:00 Weekend, school holidays, public holidays 10:00 - 18:00 Closed: Mondays Duration of the visit 90 mins – 2 hours
influenced the history of the 20th century, through original objects, thought provoking scenes, personal accounts, multimedia and films. The role of this exhibition is to reach a wider audience of people who have forgotten how history has shaped their lives, and to open their eyes to the story of the firstly European, then global, war. It seeks to connect with each visitor, depicting how the events during this period of the early 20th century affected lives then, and continue to do so to this day.
Price Adult €12.00 Groups (min. 20 ) and senior citizens €9.00 Children (6 -18 years) and students €8.00 Family package : 2 adults + 2 children €32.00 (+ €6 for extra child) School groups €6.00 Youth groups between 6 and 18 years (min. 20 pers.) €6.00 Children under 6 years free Reservations essential for schools and groups Reservation service available Monday - Friday from 09:30 - 12:30 and 13:30 - 17:00
Tour guide €65.00 per guide for 90 min visit (max. 20 visitors per guide) (by reservations only) Languages English, French, Dutch, German Access Tram: N° 81 and 82 Bus: N° 27,28,36,61,67,80 Metro / Train Schuman or Merode Ample parking is available on the Esplanade, by the entrance of the Museum. The Museum is easily accessible to visitors with disabilities
8
09/11/14
1,000 Voices for Peace!
Flanders Festival Brussels
Flanders Festival Brussels is planning the world première of an ambitious oratorio for peace, written for symphonic orchestra and a choir of over 1,000 singers. Choirs will come from Belgium and many of the over 50 countries that were involved in the conflicts. The great Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki has agreed to compose the piece, and the words will reference extracts from the works of Erasmus and Spinoza. There will be additional performances by famous artists.
Contact +32 (0)2 548 9595 tino@festival.be
More than 1,000 international and Belgian singers on one stage will create a truly unique experience, with multinatio nal and multicultural choirs creating a powerful image, reflecting how, a hundred years ago, people who fought bitterly against each other are now singing together for peace.
Website www.festival.be
Antwerp
Address Vredescentrum of the City and the Province of Antwerp Information point Antwerp 14-18 Stadhuis - Grote Markt 1, 2000 Antwerp Contact +32 3 292 36 52 Info@vredescentrum.be Website www.antwerpen14-18.be Opening hours Friday 3 October 2014 at 18:00 until Sunday 5 October 2014 Price Ticket for the pontoon bridge: €5.00 per person. Bridge programme: free of charge.
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Pontoon bridge becomes Peace Bridge across the River Scheldt A highlight of this commemorative programme is the contemporary reconstruction of the 1914 pontoon bridge, symbolising the connection between the past, present and future. The temporary pontoon bridge across the River Scheldt near Steen Fortress is a technical feat that will be built by Belgian and Dutch engineer battalions on 3 October 2014. The Antwerp Port Authority is the main partner for this project. This Peace Bridge will give tens of thousands of visitors the unique chance to cross the River Scheldt on foot, following in the footsteps of the Belgian army and of the more than 10,000 refugees who fled a burning city in search of a safe haven. The reconstruction is a reminder of a significant historical moment in the city’s history, as well as an invitation to build bridges in the present and work together to create a connected, inclusive city. Peace Bridge 3-4-5 October 2014 -- The official inauguration on Friday 3 October will feature VIPs from Belgium and abroad, a peace parade with children, Let’s go Urban dance spectacular, bridge lighting by Artesis Plantijn University College, an audio trail in the pedestrian tunnel under the River Scheldt, and more. -- Throughout the weekend, the general public will have the opportunity to walk across the bridge from the right to the left bank. -- Book tickets through the website www.antwerpen14-18.be (From January 2014). Further information about Antwerp during the Great War is available at www.antwerpen14-18.be.
0 27/06/14 11/11/14
Fotomuseum
Shooting Range The Great War was the first large-scale conflict that was recorded on celluloid and film. The fledgling media appeared to have unprecedented powers, not only as the all-seeing eye and as a reminder, but also as a weapon. Images didn’t just chronicle the war, they also played a crucial role in it. Shooting Range highlights the way in which this happened within a conflict that gripped the world for four long years. FotoMuseum Antwerp shows how still images were used in newspapers, magazines, postcards and for military purposes. Propaganda and anti-war films also widen the perception of this global conflict. The exhibit not only shows the historical documents in their original form, but also considers century-old images from a contemporary perspective.
Shooting Range application
Visitors can discover more about photography in the war with the Shooting Range app that can be used inside or outside the museum during the exhibition. Due to be launched on 26 June 2014, it allows the visitor to work with photos and stories.
Address Waalse Kaai 47 2000 Antwerp
Website www.fotomuseum.be
Contact +32 (0)3 242 93 00 info@fomu.be
Opening hours Tuesday-Sunday 10.00 – 18:00 Closed Monday (except holidays)
04/05/14 11/11/15
Middelheim Museum, Braem pavilion
Signed, the artist. A collection presentation
Ernst Barlach, Georg Kolbe, Alexander Archipenko, Jean Arp, Emile-Antoine Bourdelle, Jacques Lipchitz, Ossip Zadkine, Charles Despiau, Raymond Duchamp-Villon, Paul Landowski, Rudolf Belling, Aristide Maillol, François Pompon, Arturo Martini, Ewald Mataré, Hermann Hubacher, Frans Claessens, Käthe Kollwitz, Georges Braque, Philippe Wolfers, Emil Filla, Arthur Dupon, Josué Dupon. The lives of these artists in the Middelheim collection, on both sides of the front, were harshly interrupted by the First World War, which also cut through their (early) careers much like a blunt axe. But while they share this experience, the First World War is not a common denominator in their work. Some were permanently scarred by the tragic conflict and went on to dedicate Address Braempaviljoen van het Middelheimmuseum Middelheimlaan 61 2020 Antwerp Website www.middelheimmuseum.be
Price Adults €7.00 Youth 12-26 €1.00 Children under12 free Trade €3,00 Official press card holders free
their entire oeuvre to it, while others struggled to break from the rhetoric of aggression and suffering. Käthe Kollwitz’s work is situated in the eye of the storm. Her artistic development, from naturalism to an increasingly expressionistic style, together with her tragic life, have fused into a deeply emotional oeuvre. Kollwitz’s work succeeded in generating a special interest in modern sculpture art among a wide audience. Together with the Käthe Kollwitz museums in Cologne and Berlin, the Middelheim Museum will show some exemplary works by the artist and, within this exhibition, her sculptures, which frequently portray deep suffering and the untold human cost of war, are like a case study that merits additional attention.
Opening hours October – March 10:00 - 17:00 April – September 10:00 - 19:00 May – August 10:00 - 20:00 June & July 10:00 - 21:00
Price free entrance
42
20/05/14 30/04/15
MAS
Exodus. Fleeing the war
At the outbreak of the First World War, some one million Belgians fled to the Netherlands while hundreds of thousands more escaped to Great Britain and France. This exodus is shown in the museum’s ‘Boulevard’, which highlights the search for a safe haven and, ultimately, the return home. Address Museum aan de Stroom (MAS) Hanzestedenplaats 1 2000 Antwerp
01/09/14 30/11/14
KBC tower
Website www.mas.be
Eugeen van Mieghem The Great War
In recent years, the work of the Antwerp port artist Eugeen Van Mieghem has been rediscovered internationally. His work is often compared to that of artists such as Käthe Kollwitz, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Théophile Steinlen. At the outbreak of the First World War, Van Mieghem observed and portrayed the departing refugees and other telling scenes from daily life in a city on the verge of war. His works provide a unique perspective on the horrific experiences of Antwerp’s population during the conflict. Address Schoenmarkt 35, 2000 Antwerpen
Website www.vanmieghemmuseum.com
Price free entrance
20/09/14 11/01/15
Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp and the House of Literature, Queen Fabiola Hall
The Moderns. Art during the Great War
Before the outbreak of the First World War, the futuristic works of Jules Schmalzigaug suggested progress, speed and technology while Rik Wouters’ art was a celebration of vitality and strength. But the war came as a shock. This exhibition shows how artists and writers absorbed this shock du ring, and in the immediate aftermath, of the war. Some artists and writers fled to the Netherlands and Great Britain, where they discovered foreign movements. Others tried to make sense of life on and behind the front lines. Paul van Ostaijen incorporated his trauma in the experimental poetry collections Occupied City and the Feasts of Fear and Pain. The war also left its mark on other writers in Antwerp and Flanders. This exhibition uses the work of six key figures (including Rik Wouters, Emile Verhaeren and Paul van Ostaijen) to evoke an idea of what the war meant for these artists and authors. It is part of the series ‘The Moderns in the Queen Fabiola Hall’ and has been organised by the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp and the Province of Antwerp, together with the House of Literature and the Provincial Museum Emile Verhaeren. Address Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp and the House of Literature Queen Fabiola Hall Jezusstraat 28 2000 Antwerp
28/09/14 06/04/15
Red Star Line Museum
Website www.kmska.be www.letterenhuis.be Opening hours Tuesday to Friday, Sunday 10:00 – 17:00 Saturday 10:00 to 18:00 Closed: Mondays
Price Adult €4.00 60+ €3.00 Students €3.00 Groups (min 15) €3.00 Between 19 and 25 years €1.00 Children under 18 free
Far from the War? Belgian immigrants in America during World War I
In the early 20th century, during the years running up to the First World War, Belgian migration to the United States peaked. When the German army occupied Belgium in 1914, all transatlantic passenger traffic from Antwerp came to a halt. Belgian Americans suddenly found themselves cut off from their motherland, and in many cases from their family. How did they experience the war? How did they express their solidarity with their country of origin? A presentation in The Shed, the museum’s multipurpose gallery, explores this theme. This is the first exhibition in a multiannual project on migration to the Americas by the Red Star Line Museum. Address Red Star Line Museum Montevideostraat 3 2000 Antwerp
Website www.redstarline.org
Contact + 32 3 206 03 50 redstarline@stad.antwerpen.be
Opening hours Tuesday –Sunday 10:00 – 17:00
Price free
44 from January 2014
Historic city walks: Antwerp during the Great War The First World War behind the double belt of fortresses.
The walk starts at the Festival Hall in De Meir, which served as King Albert’s residence during his stay in Antwerp, and continues to Steenplein. Along the way, the guide will draw attention to historical buil dings (or their former locations) that played a role during the First World War. Other aspects covered during the walk include the attitude of ‘Antwerp’ Germans, Antwerp’s aviation pioneers, famous authors and artists who experienced the war in Antwerp and the refugee situation. The latter ties in with the walk’s destination: the pontoon bridge near Steen Fortress. Address Starting point: Stadsfeestzaal Meir 78 2000 Antwerp
Opening hours Available from January 2014 Duration: 2 hours
Tour guide €80.00
Website www. visitantwerp.be
from summer 2014
Schoonselhof
Open-air exhibition and walk
The hostility-free WWI military graves of Schoonselhof cemetery.
In Belgium’s biggest municipal military cemetery, located in Antwerp, the graves of thousands of soldiers from different countries are found in the heart of beautiful parkland. For the commemoration of the centenary of the First World War, individual war stories and historical discoveries will be shared, revealing the relationship between the Great War, the city of Antwerp and Schoonselhof cemetery. Address Schoonselhof Krijgsbaan, 2610 Wilrijk
Website www.antwerpen.be
Price free The brochure is available free of charge on location.
Contact Funeraire.cel@stad.antwerpen.be
Opening hours Summer 08:30 – 19:30 Winter 08:30 – 17:30
Tour guide A guided tour is available for groups of 20 or more participants, and must be booked in advance
29/03/14 25/06/14
KBC tower
The Forts in 1914
At the outbreak of the First World War, the Antwerp fortifications, forts and entrenchments played a crucial role at the core of Belgium’s defences. A century later, almost all are still standing. As silent witnesses, they reveal the traces of the attacks, the places struck by the Big Berthas, the resistance they offered and their capture by the Germans. Using Antwerp’s defensive rings of forts as a common thread, this exhibition offers an impressive perspective of the German siege in 1914. A wealth of unique visual records, objects, simulations and documents creates a memorable account of the daily life of the people and the soldiers, the mobilisation, assaults, surrender and occupation. A reference desk also provides a welcome point with information about the belts of fortifications in Liege, Namur and Antwerp, as well as the activities taking place within the Antwerpen1914-1918 project.
04/11/13 03/10/14
Address The Forts in 1914 KBC tower, Antwerp Schoenmarkt 35 2000 Antwerp
Website www.simonstevin.org
Price free
Contact forten1914@simonstevin.org
Opening hours Monday –Wednesday, Friday 09:00 – 16:30 Thursday 09:00 – 18:00 Saturday 09:00 – 12:00
Tour guide Groups €55.00 Trade €38.00
Vleeshuis Museum
Educational Experience trail for children: Antwerp builds bridges 1914 – 2014
In the Vleeshuis Museum children and students can follow an informative and interactive trail, encountering obstacles to peace along the way. By completing tasks together and searching for materials, they literally build a bridge across a war zone so that they can safely cross a world full of conflict. The task requires thought and consideration and is a fulfilling experience. Topics covered include threats, power, life during the occupation, refugees, animals in wartime, communication and collaboration. The experience trail welcomes schools and youth clubs, and is targeted towards 11- and 12-year olds. Max: 25 children per group. Address Vleeshuis Museum, Vleeshouwersstraat 38 2000 Antwerp
Opening hours Monday - Friday, at 09:00, 11:00 and 13:00, or by appointment Duration: 2 hours
Price €30.00 per group
46
Leuven
20/03/14 01/09/14
M-Museum
rava
Exhibition: Ravage – Art and Culture in Times of Conflict
The works of both Old Masters and contemporary artists have been brought together to create dialogue and demonstrate how art and culture have been targeted in conflicts for centuries. The burning of Leuven and the University Library at the beginning of the First World War is the starting point of Ravage, which combines paintings, tapestries, photography, video, graphics and monumental installations made especially for the exhibition spaces. Address M-Museum Leopold Vanderkelenstraat 28, B-3000 Leuven Contact +32 (0)16 27 29 29 bezoekm@leuven.be Website www.ravage1914.be
kunst en cultuur in tijden v
Opening hours Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday 11:00 – 18:00 Thursday 11:00 – 22:00 Wednesdays closed
Tour guide €65 for Dutch-speaking guide) , €70 for English, French, German, Italian or Spanish-speaking guide Plus €6 per person ticket (groups of 15 or more), +€8.00 per person ticket for groups of less than 15
Price Individual €12.00 Discounts €10.00 Trade €8.00
Reservation required. Contact: bezoekm@leuven.be, at least 2 weeks before your visit
6
Opens in 2014
University Library in Leuven The tower of the University Library, the first tower in Leuven, will be permanently open to the public, for both individual visitors and groups. This is the first step in making the university patrimony in the city centre of Leuven accessible. The destruction and rebuilding of Leuven caused by the First (and to a lesser degree the Second) World War will be shown in an evocative and innovative manner in part of the tower. It will break up the steep climb considerably, allowing the visitor to climb the tower in stages while learning much more about the tower and its history. A highlight of the climb will be a unique view of the city from the tower balcony. The library tower is one of the most important landmarks in the city centre and offers a spectacular panorama of the historical centre as well as the green areas beyond. Address Mgr. Ladeuzeplein 21 3000 Leuven
Price Individual â‚Ź7.00 Children under 13 free Online ticket: reduction of â‚Ź1.50 per ticket Audio guide included in ticket price
Films from the front line The stories of the Great War remain an inexhaustible source of inspiration for film-makers. These are just a handful of the countless classics that have seen the horror and the heroism of the trenches projected on the big screen:
A Very Long Engagement (2004). A woman’s search for her lost husband who, after an attemp ted self-mutilation, is left for dead in a trench at the Somme. A passionate romance that doesn’t shy away from the violence of the subject matter.
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930). This controversial film, which won the Oscar for best film in its day, depicts how German idealism was abruptly shot down. The last scene pulls no punches, summarising the experience of the Great War like no other.
Joyeux Noël (2005). This international production looks back on the famous Christmas truce of 1914, when opposing sides met in No Man’s Land for a game of football.
Paths of Glory (1957). This stylised masterpiece from director Stanley Kubrick examines the gulf in experience between the officers and the troops at the front, and presents the military-industrial horror of WWI in stark imagery. Oh! What a Lovely War (1969). An incisive and poignant satire exposing the absurdity and extra vagance of WWI, told in the style of an off-the-wall vaudeville stage show in which the ordinary soldier falls victim to the antics of his archetypal British higher-ups.
24/08/14 25/08/14
48
Passchendaele (2008). The most expensive Canadian film ever made tells the poignant and sometimes disconcerting story of a doomed love between a Canadian soldier and a nurse, set against the ruins of the Third Battle of Ypres. War Horse (2011). Steven Spielberg’s grand adaptation of the eponymous book by Michael Morpurgo, telling the story of the unbreakable bond between an English country boy and his brave horse that is sold to the British cavalry.
Martyr Cities 1914 - Leuven Musical event
On 4 August 1914 German troops crossed the Belgian border. For days, Aarschot, Dendermonde and Leuven were attacked, citizens were executed and town centres were reduced to ashes. August and September 2014 mark exactly a century since these events made the headlines around the world. A focus on programmes at Aarschot, Leuven and Dendermonde demonstrates the horror inflicted on civilian casualties and the destruction of ancient heritage. During the weekend of August 24-25, the Monseigneur Ladeuze Square will be the site of a recital featuring Mozart’s Requiem along with a new composition by P. Swerts, presented by Fred Brouwers. Afterwards, a light show on the façade of the University Library will evoke the destructive fire, while also sending a message of peace. The cities of Aarschot and Dendermonde will have a similar programme with musical events followed by light shows. Address Toerisme Leuven
Contact +32 (0) 16 27 22 77 trade@leuven.be
Mechelen
17/05/14 28/09/14
Stedelijke Musea Mechelen
Exhibition: Mechelen’s War Artists
Nobody escaped the atrocities of the Great War: not the soldiers (including artist Rik Wouters), not the ‘fortunate’ ones who fled to safer places, nor the ‘unfortunates’, such as painter Rik Verheyen, left behind in occupied territories, scrambling for survival. Yet an artist remains an artist, even in times of sorrow and destruction. Imprisoned, Rik Wouters continued to make sketches and works of art. The bombings
of Mechelen did not stop him from depicting his city under attack. From the ‘safety’ of Amsterdam, Alfred Ost, another artist, designed postcards to support the Belgian community. These exhibitions centre on artists from Mechelen and their experiences during the First World War, as they exemplify universal stories of suffering.
Address Museum Hof van Busleyden Frederik de Merodestraat 65 2800 Mechelen
Website www.stedelijkemuseamechelen.be
Contact +32 (0)70 22 28 00 stedelijkemusea@mechelen.be
Opening hours Daily 13:00-17:00 Wednesdays closed
50
The Great War on canvas The memory of the Great War is inscribed on paper and recorded on photographic negatives. But artists also fought on the front line, bringing a unique perspective to the conflict. Their collected sketches and paintings embody the great change in Western art and culture brought about by the war: the beginnings of modernism as a new way of representing reality. The war artists from this period were often commissioned by the army or by newspapers wanting to capture the war for the greater public. As a result, in the period between 1914 and 1918, it was common to encounter works of pure propaganda, but also the increasingly powerful voice of a movement that would shatter the rose-tinted image of war. Amongst the stalwarts of the classical school you will find artists such as the German Luitpold Adam, the New Zealander G.E. Butler, and the French successors to the tradition of Edouard Detaille, a champion of French military painting in the 19th century. Their work is typified by broad panoramas, honest realism and the glamour of the charge and the march. However, this patriotic approach had no place in the hell of Flemish No Man’s Land. Testament to this is the claustrophobic work of the brothers Paul and John Nash, who transformed the Yser plain into a barren, nightmarish landscape. Paul Nash served with the Artists’ Rifles, a British volunteer regiment that holds a place in the history of both art and war. Their contemporary, Christopher Nevinson, carried the horrors of war through into Futurism, a style in which the turmoil of battle was reduced to a volatile, geometric play of lines, a fleeting glimpse of a well-oiled machine. Hints of the true nature of the battlefield can be seen in the grim portraits of the German expressionist Otto Dix whose soldiers, with their pain-ridden, grimaced expressions, are seen dying from mustard gas. Somewhere around the halfway point on the spectrum, the penetrating gaze of classically-schooled painters reveal what it meant to be a soldier at that time. Renowned artists such as the Canadian landscape painters J.W. Beatty and Alexander Jackson, the American impressionist John Singer Sargent or the Belgian Alfred Bastien captured, in the footsteps of the Canadian army, the mud-smothered hell of Passendale on canvas.
Ordinary soldiers also kept their own accounts of the war. German officer Rudolf Lange, for example, kept a diary and also painted a very personal picture of the front. It’s an eclectic gallery, full of intensely powerful and moving art which is both insightful and engaging.
0 start: 22/04/14
Nekkerhal
Musical ‘the story of 14-18’
Studio 100, a theatrical production company, has created a story of pure friendship and love with the musical spectacle ’14 -’18. What devastating effect does the war have on a group of friends or a husband and wife, separated by the conflict? What effect does a huge, all-destroying war machine have on ordinary young people who do not even realise what they are a part of? Address Nekkerhal Mechelen, nekkerspel – Borcht, 2800 Mechelen
Website www.14-18.nu
Contact Tickets: +32 70 34 45 55
Opening hours Start: 22 April 2014
Price Adults: €44.95 - €84.95 Children: € 44.95 - €84.95 Groups: reduction for a minimum of 20 people. Schools: €15.00 per person Trade: phone for rates Languages Dutch; English (subject to demands)
start: 01/06/14
Vegetable Museum ‘t Grom
Gardening during Wartime in Sint-Katelijne-Waver
The Vegetable Museum ‘t Grom in Sint-Katelijne-Waver brings history to life with a war garden - the stories of ordinary people and their daily struggles for survival. It gives an account of hunger and scarcity, but also of the resilience and creativity of locals during wartime. Many of the vegetables cultivated and eaten at that time are no longer well-known, and are called ’forgotten vegetables’. Address Vegetable Museum ’t Grom Midzelen 25a 2860 Sint-Katelijne-Waver
Website www.tgrom.be
Contact +32(0)15 31 50 55 info@tgrom.be
Opening hours Monday & Wednesday-Friday 10:00-16:00 Sunday (March-December) 13:00-18:00 Closed: Tuesday, Saturday
Prices Regular: €6.00 all-in (museum, war garden, didactic gardens) Reductions for children, seniors, students, visitors with disabilities, groups Reservations required for groups
52
Ostend
Address Monacoplein 2, 8400 Oostende Contact Tel: +32(0)59 29 53 35 Tel. (general enquiries): +32(0)59 70 11 99 e-mail: trade@toerisme-oostende.be
True stories of the
GREAT Ostend during WARthe Great War
Website www.visitoostende.be www.oostende1418.be
Opening hours 12 November 2013 – 31 MarchDiary 2014 of Charles Castelein, 10:00 – 17:30 tramway employee during the 1 April 2014 – 11 November 2014 10:00 – 18:00 Extraordinary stories told by locals.
- digital walk & cycling route
Prices Digital walk Adults €5.00 Childre €3.00 Groups €3.00 Schools €3.00 Trade €3.00
www.oostende1418.be di
VISIT OOSTENDE www.visitoostende.be
62351_OOSTENDE_14-18_AFF A4_EN.indd 1
Tour guides €65 for a Dutch speaking guide (2 hour duration) €75 for a guide speaking other languages (2 hour duration) max. 25 persons per guide
Great War
l wa & The First World War was a turning point in history. gi It ta cost thelklives interesti ng bi ke ur of more than 16 million people and had an impact everyone’s to life. AVAIon LA BL E SO O N The seaside resort of Ostend is not normally associated with the roar of guns and canons, but among the many events played out in the city during this period was the raid by HMS Vindictive. To commemorate what took place here a hundred years ago, various activities are being9/09/13 organised in Ostend, such as a digital walk and a cycling route based on the theme of ‘Ostend during The Great War’.
15:29
2
Martyr Cities
11-17 August 2014 24-25 August 2014 5-7 September 2014
Aarschot Leuven Dendermonde
Martyr Cities 1914
On 4 August 1914 German troops crossed the Belgian border. For days Aarschot, Dendermonde and Leuven were plundered, citizens were executed and town centres reduced to ashes. August and September 2014 mark exactly a century since these events. The programmes at the three cities focus on the horror of civilian casualties and the destruction of ancient heritage. Top international musical acts supported by Flemish talent paint a unique and creative picture of the story of these Martyr Cities. Each concert closes with a light show against the backdrop of the town’s cultural heritage. Aarschot: On Saturday 16 August 2014 there will be a performance by internationally renowned choir Scala, formed by the Aarschot-born Kolacny brothers, followed by a soundand-light show on the Grote Markt. Several local events will also take place before and after the concert. Aarschot’s most important tourist event - the annual Sint-Rochusverlichting - takes place on 15 August, and in 2014, it is dedicated to the commemoration. The events of August 1914 will be commemorated on 13-15 August. Contact Aarschot +32 (0)16 63 02 80 Dries.peeters@aarschot.be
Dendermonde + 32 (0)52 21 39 56 toerisme@dendermonde.be
Leuven: The weekend of August 24-25, the Monseigneur Ladeuze square will be the site of a recital featuring Mozart’s Requiem along with a new composition by P. Swerts, presen ted by Fred Brouwers. Afterwards, a light show on the façade of the University Library will evoke the destructive fire of a century ago, while also sending a message of peace. Dendermonde: On 5 September 2014 there will be a public performance of Dendermonde, City in Ashes, created by Stijn Kolacny and the enthusiastic inhabitants and clubs of Dendermonde, and on 6 September the Scala choir and the Kolacny brothers are performing a unique concert tailored to the events in Dendermonde, with a song composed especially for the occasion. With the help of a light show, and against the background of the then-destroyed heritage, this internationally renowned girls’ choir is bringing the events of 100 years ago back to the attention of the public, in a contemporary way. On the same day, a tribute is being held to the men who fell on the hero square: troops, veterans’ associations and representatives of various national and international authorities will all be present.
Leuven +32 (0) 16 27 22 77 trade@leuven.be
54
17/08/14 15/12/14
zaal ‘t Sestich, Stadhuis, Dendermonde
Dendermonde in Ruins
This exhibition focuses upon the WWI events in Dendermonde and its region and strives to evoke a real experience for the visitor. Personal anecdotes serve as a starting point, illustrated with archival material that has never been shown before, for a unique view on daily life during the period of Dendermonde’s destruction and the atrocities of 1914. The difficult rebuilding, the relationship with the invader and the struggle for survival are some of the themes brought to life with the
Address Stadhuis Dendermonde Grote Markt 9200 Dendermonde Contact +32 (0)52 21 39 56 toerisme@dendermonde.be Website www.dendermonde.be
help of historical photo collections, personal testimonies, documentation and objects. A series of thematic contrasts help to shape the story further. A new tourism office will open in the spring of 2015 and thematic cycling and walking trails will reflect the area’s WWI heritage. The opening of this visitor centre and, later, of the city’s bell tower to the public, aim to bring to life the exceptional history of the city in a contemporary way.
Opening hours April – June, September: Monday – Friday 09:00 – 12:00 & 13:30 – 16:30 Saturday – Sunday 10:00 – 12:00 & 13:30 – 18:00 October – March: Monday – Friday 09:00 – 12:00 & 13:30 – 16:30 During school holidays: Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays 10:00 – 12:00 & 14:00 – 16:30 July – August: Monday – Friday 09:00 – 18:00 Saturday, Sunday and public holidays 10:00 – 18:00
Tour guides 1 hour: € 30.00 (group up to 35 people) Half day guide: € 50.00 Full day guide: € 125.00 Arrangement (at least 20 people for an entire day): €13.00 p.p. without lunch. €27.00 p.p. with lunch.
4 Calendar of events 2014-2015 01/11/13 30/06/14
In Flanders Fields Museum
Exhibition: War and Trauma Soldiers & Ambulances. 1914-1918
p9
01/11/13 30/06/14
Museum Dr. Guislain,
War and Trauma Soldiers and Psychiatrists 1914-2014
p37
04/11/13 03/10/14
Vleeshuis Museum
Educational Experience trail for children: Antwerp builds bridges 1914 – 2014
p45
from January 2014
Antwerp
Historic city walks: Antwerp during the Great War
p44
07/02/14 16/04/15
Royal Museum of the Army and of Military History
EXPO: 14-18, it’s our history!
p38
20/03/14 01/09/14
M-Museum
Exhibition: Ravage – Art and Culture in Times of Conflict
p46
29/03/14 25/06/14
KBC tower
The Forts in 1914
p45
56 start: 22/04/14
Nekkerhal
Musical ‘the story of 14-18’
p51
04/05/14 11/11/15
Middelheim Museum, Braem pavilion
Signed, the artist. A collection presentation
p41
17/05/14 28/09/14
Stedelijke Musea Mechelen
Exhibition: Mechelen’s War Artists
p49
20/05/14 30/04/15
MAS
Exodus. Fleeing the war
p42
from summer 2014
Schoonselhof
Open-air exhibition and walk.
p44
start: 01/06/14
Vegetable Museum ‘t Grom
Gardening during Wartime in Sint-Katelijne-Waver
p51
27/06/14 11/11/14
fotomuseum
Shooting Range
p41
11/08/14 17/08/14
Aarschot
Martyr Cities 1914 - Aarschot
p53
15/08/14 15/12/14
Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917
Exhibition: The Old Contemptibles
p14
17/08/14 15/12/14
zaal ‘t Sestich, Stadhuis, Dendermonde
Dendermonde in Ruins
p54
6 24/08/14 25/08/14
Leuven
Martyr Cities 1914 - Leuven
p48 p53
01/09/14 30/11/14
KBC tower
Eugeen van Mieghem The Great War
p42
05/09/14 07/09/14
Dendermonde
Martyr Cities 1914 - Dendermonde
p53
06/09/14 05/09/15
Railway station and surroundings
Poperinge Terminus - L.69 Railway line Poperinge-Hazebrouck
p23
20/09/14 11/01/15
Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp and the House of Literature, Queen Fabiola Hall
The Moderns. Art during the Great War
p43
28/09/14 06/04/15
Red Star Line Museum
Far from the War? Belgian immigrants in America during World War I
p43
01/10/14 04/01/15
In Flanders Fields Museum
Exhibition: The Battle of the Yser and the First Battle of Ypres
p11
Antwerp
Pontoon bridge becomes Peace Bridge across the River Scheldt
p40
14/10/14 22/02/15
Stadshallen
The War in Pictures / Bruges at War
p35
17/10/14
Ganzenpoot Nieuwpoort
Light Front/Flooding of the Plains
p30
03/10/14 05/10/14
58 18/10/14
Nieuwpoort
25/10/14
Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917
08/11/14
Diksmuide
The Fall of Diksmuide
p31
09/11/14
Flanders Festival Brussels
1,000 Voices for Peace!
p39
10/11/14
Crest Farm Canadian Memorial
Passchendaele - Ceremony 1914-1917-2014
p16
11/11/14 11/11/15
Menin Gate
Armistice Remembrance
p12
12/12/14 14/12/14
Houthulst, Zonnebeke & Wervik
The Truce 1914-2014
p31
13/12/14
Zonnebeke – Broodseinde
Forgotten Winter: French ceremonies
p16
Christmas Truce
p32
Lijssenthoek Terminus
p19
18/12/14 22/12/14
01/01/15 31/07/15
Military Cemetery Visitor Centre
The Flooding of the Plains
Double ceremony
p31
p14
18/03/15 13/09/15
Kinderbrouwerij Reningelst
Poperinge Terminus: Illustrated by the war
p23
23/03/15
Sint-Maarten square, Ypres
Multimedia Show in Ypres
p33
22/04/15
Ypresand Langemark-Poelkapelle
Centennial commemoration of the first gas attack
p12
24/04/15 31/08/15
Domain and manor De Lovie
Wind Dangerous: Festival with sound, light and an artistic circuit
p22
25/04/15 26/04/15
Zonnebeke
ANZAC Day 2015
p16 p32
09/07/15
Ypres
The 30,000th Last Post
p34
24/08/15 15/12/15
Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917
01/11/15 01/04/16
Sint-Pietersabdij
War in Short Pants
18/12/15 20/12/15
Poperinge
Piano Festival Poperinge
Exhibition: Children of the Empire
p14
p36 p34
60 Discover the battlefields
Interesting websites www.flandersfields.be/www.greatwarcentenary.be
www.flandersfields1418.com
This website provides all the information needed to discover the Flanders Fields region. It also provides useful information about places to stay in the Westhoek.
The official website of Visit Flanders in the United Kingdom, it lists all the places of interest and events related to the Great War that are taking place in Flanders and Brussels.
Brochure ‘The Great War Centenary - accessible to everyone’ Visit Flanders has initiated the ‘The Great War Centenary - accessible to everyone’ project, which strives to ensure integral accessibility of the commemoration for the broadest possible public. It is seizing this opportunity to implement a comprehensively accessible holiday chain, by promoting the availability of information covering all aspects of an accessible stay: information and welcome, accommodation, restaurants, cafés, sites, transportation, parking, assistance and care, etc. The information is provided in a practical brochure. Not everything that claims to be accessible has been included in this brochure. Our information is always based on an objective and independent on-site inspection. We use the A and A+ label of the Visit Flanders tourist office to indicate the level of accessibility of accommodation, tourist information offices and visitor centres. Specially developed for this project, the W (basic accessibility) and W+ (comfortable accessibility) symbols will be used for the other categories. These labels are only assigned after an extensive on-site inspection. Adaptations are often required to ensure easy accessibility for people with mobility problems to a building or site. Most of the information in the brochure is therefore primarily intended for those with mobility issues. However,
we also report on initiatives offering additional facilities for e.g. visual, hearing or learning disabilities. Whether something is accessible depends to a large extent on the person concerned as each disability or limitation is different. We therefore also recommend contacting the initiative concerned beforehand to get the information needed from individual perspectives. While the information in the brochure is certainly not comprehensive, we believe it provides a good starting point. Additional information is available on request, and tips based on personal experiences are welcomed.
www.accessibleflanders.be post@accessinfo.be Accessible Travel Info Point
Grasmarkt 61 · 1000 Brussels, Belgium +32 (0)2 504 03 40 +32 (0)2 504 04 05
Brochure: http://www.accessinfo.be/fileadmin/ bestanden/docs/Great_War.pdf
0 Travelling to the Westhoek It is possible to travel by train to Ypres from every city in Flanders. This will generally require a change of train in Kortrijk. Many cities throughout Flanders also offer full day orga nised coach tours of Flanders Fields, incorporating the main sites and the Last Post ceremony.
More information about travelling by train: www.belgianrail.be/en More information about organised coach tours: www.flandersfields1418.com
Visiting the Westhoek (Flanders Fields) Some of the cemeteries, visitor centres and other sites in the Westhoek are difficult to reach by public transport. For this reason, if visitors do not have their own transport, we recommend booking an organised tour or renting a bicycle or car.
Cycling in the Westhoek
Visiting the Westhoek by coach
As in the rest of Flanders, you will find a network of numbered junctions in the Westhoek region. You can use these to create your own route. Visit www.toerismewesthoek.be.
Organised bus tours Organised day excursions by coach to WWI sites are available in the Westhoek and in certain cities in Flanders, including Bruges, Ghent and Ostend.
There are also a number of themed cycling routes that will take you past WWI heritage sites. These routes can be viewed at www.flandersfields.be. You can find a list of cycle hire companies that operate in the Westhoek region at www.toerismewesthoek.be/fietsverhuur.
Visiting the Westhoek by car There are many car routes that allow visitors to discover the war landscape and its different landmarks. More information can be found on www.greatwarcentenary.be Cars can be rented from the major car rental companies which have branches in Brussels, Bruges, Ostend and elsewhere in the region, as well as from local companies. More information can be found on: http://www.visitflanders.co.uk/plan-your-trip/practical-information/ getting-around/
A complete list of organisers in the Westhoek is available at: www.flandersfields.be/en/recreation The programmes organised in the cities are featured here: www.flandersfields1418.com Coach parking There is coach parking available at the following locations close to important landmarks: -- Ypres: train station -- Poperinge: Peperstraat/Oudstrijdersplein, Nijverheidsstraat (behind the station square), Sportzone Reningelstseweg – Ouderdomseweg, Zuidlaan (next to the ring road), Westlaan (next to the ring road), Lijssenthoek military cemetery -- Zonnebeke: Museum Passchendaele, Tyne Cot Cemetery -- Diksmuide: Yser Tower, train station -- Nieuwpoort: adjacent to the King Albert I monument
Gastronomy in Flanders Fields Like all areas of Flanders, the Westhoek offers a large choice of restaurants in every price range. Websites of each town/city provide information about local restaurants. www.toerisme-ieper.be www.toerismepoperinge.be www.toerisme.diksmuide.be www.nieuwpoort.be
Information about restaurants elsewhere in Flanders is available from www.visitflanders.co.uk
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Trade and press information DMCs/Incoming Operators Admire Brigitte Boone www.admire.be brigitte.boone@admire.be +32 2 361 65 59
De Boeck Incoming & Events Chantal Quirijnen www.deboeck-incoming.com info@deboeck-incoming.com +32 2 274 23 80
All About Belgium Kathleen Vermeiren www.aab-allaboutbelgium.be kathleen.vermeiren@aab-allaboutbelgium.be +32 53 80 98 18
Event Masters Peter Van Avermaet www.eventmasters.be peter@eventmasters.be +32 3 860 60 80
Belgian Biking Gert Verschueren www.belgianbiking.be belgianbiking@zuiderhuis.be +32 (0)9 233 45 33
Focus Flanders Michel Deswaene www.focusflanders.be michel.d@squatra.be + 32 9 269 90 62
Images There is a comprehensive range of images suitable for promoting the Great War Centenary in Flanders available to download from the Visit Flanders Flickr page. www.flickr.com/visitflanders
2014-18 Flanders Fields / The Great War Centenary poppy logo The 2014-18 Flanders Fields and 2014-18 The Great War Centenary poppy logos are available for use by international trade and press. Get in touch with your local Visit Flanders contact for terms of use and an application form.
Visit Flanders international contacts International press contacts United Kingdom & Ireland – Ms. Anita RAMPALL anita@visitflanders.co.uk + 44 20 7307 7741
Australia & New Zealand – Ms. Marijke VAN DAMME marijke.vandamme@toerismevlaanderen.be + 32 2 504 04 55
USA & Canada – Ms. Liliane OPSOMER liliane@visitflanders.us +1 212 584 2336 ext. 3004
Germany – Mr. Joel ETZOLD Joel.etzold@flandern.com + 49 221 270 97 52
France – Ms. Pascale KOTLARSKI-SCHUDDINGS pkotlarski@tbfb.org + 33 1 56 89 14 46 The Netherlands – Ms. Natalie SIEREVELD natalie.siereveld@toerismevlaanderen.nl + 31 70 416 81 16
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India – Ms Dheera MAJUMDER dheera@mileage.in +91 22 2673 1197
Italy – Mr. Luca LO BASSO l.lobasso@turismofiandre.it + 39 02 973 816 97
Japan – Ms. Tomomi TSUKAKOSHI tvltyo-tomomi@visitflanders.jp + 81 3 3237 80 32
China – Ms LI Xin li.xin@visitflanders.com.cn +86 10 8442 5744
Spain – Ms. Angeles ALONSO MISOL prensa@flandes.net + 34 93 508 59 91
Russia – Ms. Elena PECHALOVA lp@tmiconsultancy.com +7 495 787 27 53
Asia other countries – Mr. Nico PEETERS nico.peeters@visitflanders-asia.com +60 11 1618 7760
Austria & Central Europe – Ms. Susanne GOSCH s.gosch@flandern.at + 43 1 596 06 60 11
Scandinavië – Ms. Lynn DAUWE lynn.dauwe@visitflanders.com + 32 2 504 04 25 20
The Netherlands – Ms. Joke NIVELLE/Ms. Ingrid BOKMA trade@toerismevlaanderen.nl + 31 70 416 81 10
India – Ms Dheera MAJUMDER dheera@mileage.in +91 22 2673 1197
International trade contacts UK & Ireland – Ms. Lisa THOMAS lisa@visitflanders.co.uk + 44 20 7307 7733 USA & Canada – Ms. Julie DAVIDSON julie@visitflanders.us +1 212 584 2336 ext. 3007 Australia & New Zealand – Ms. Marijke Van Damme marijke.vandamme@toerismevlaanderen.be + 32 2 504 04 55 Germany – Ms. Britta WEIDEMANN trade@flandern.com + 49 221 270 97 41 France – Mr. Anthony FOREST aforest@tbfb.org + 33 1 56 89 14 45
Italy – Ms. Silvia CLARIN s.clarin@turismofiandre.it + 39 2 973 817 54
Asia other countries – Mr. Nico PEETERS nico.peeters@visitflanders-asia.com +60 11 1618 7760
Spain – Ms. Judit SALA trade@flandes.net + 34 93 508 59 92 Austria & Central Europe – Ms. Alex RAAB FROSTL a.raab-frostl@flandern.at + 43 1 596 06 60 20 Scandinavië – Ms. Lynn DAUWE lynn.dauwe@visitflanders.com + 32 2 504 04 25 20
Copyrights 5 Diksmuide/Dodengang-Trenches: milo-profi photography 5 Zonnebeke – Passendale – a cemetery: milo-profi photography 5 In Flanders Fields-Poppies: milo-profi photography 8 In Flanders Fields museum, Ypres: milo-profi photography 9 In Flanders Fields museum: In Flanders Fields museum 9 Ieper – Ypres / In Flanders Fields Museum: milo-profi photography 9 In Flanders Fields museum, Ypres: milo-profi photography 11 Ieper – Ypres / Last Post: milo-profi photography 11 Ieper – Ypres/Menin Gate – Last Post: milo-profi photography 11 Ypres: Toerisme Ieper 15 Zonnebeke / Polygoonbos/ Polygon forest: Westtoer 16 Passchendaele ceremony: Freddy Lattré 16 Passchendaele Ceremony: Freddy Lattré 17 Tyne Cot cemetery, Passendale: Westtoer 18 Lijssenthoek military cemetery – bezoekerscentrum: Michaël Depestele 19 Lijssenthoek military cemetery – bezoekerscentrum: Michaël Depestele 19 Lijssenthoek military cemetery – bezoekerscentrum: Michaël Depestele 22 Hopmuseum Poperinge: Hopmuseum Poperinge 24 Yser Tower, Diksmuide: Westtoer 27 Nieuwpoort/ Lock complex ‘De Ganzenpoot’ (Goose foot): milo-profi photography 32 Ypres: Toerisme Ieper
China - Ms CHI Hongyu Chi.hongyu@visitflanders.com.cn +86 10 8442 5744
Japan – Ms. Junko IIDA tvltyo-iida@visitflanders.jp + 81 3 3237 80 32 Russia – Ms. Maria GORBACHEVA mg@tmiconsultancy.com +7 495 787 27 53
33 In Flanders Fields – Poppies: milo-profi photography 34 Ieper – Ypres / Last Post at the Menin Gate 37 Soldaten en psychiaters. 1914-2014: Stefan Vanfleteren 40 Pontonbrug als vredesbrug over de schelde: Stadsarchief, Antwerpen 42 Exodus. Fleeing the war: Sarah Blee 46 Ravage - Art and Culture in Times of Conflict 47 Universiteitsbibliotheek: Toerisme Leuven 47 Universiteitsbibliotheek: Layla Aerts, Totem: Jan Fabre 51 Gardening during Wartime in Sint-Katelijne-Waver: Kee Van Den Eynde 60 Exploring the Westhoek: milo-profi photography 60 Diksmuide/trenches/dodengang: milo-profi photography 60 Cycling: Westtoer Acknowledgements Publisher: Toerisme Vlaanderen Peter De Wilde, Grasmarkt 61, 1000 Brussels, Belgium Legal deposit D/2013/5635/28/4
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