Landscapes

A hundred years ago, the landscape of the Westhoek was transformed. Hundreds of cemeteries, monuments and permanent witnesses appeared among the picturesque villages, fields and quiet roads. During the LANDSCAPES | Feel Flanders Fields theme year, Westtoer and Toerisme Vlaanderen take you to this landscape.

This theme year builds on the strong reputation that the Westhoek, and Flanders acquired during the centennial remembrance of WWI from 2014 to 2018. The nature of the selected projects confirms this. It is already clear: both individual visitors as well as (school) groups from home and abroad will be welcomed with open arms. 

With a broad programme of exhibitions and events, landscape art and AR experiences, numerous cycling, walking and sailing routes, LANDSCAPES | Feel Flanders Fields allows the landscape of the Flanders Fields region to speak for itself from 29 April 2023 to 31 August 2024. The focus will not only be on the region's rich war history, but LANDSCAPES | Feel Flanders Fields also looks ahead to the future and asks how we will leave the landscape behind. 

Venture out and about with family or friends, young and old, wander among the music, history, art and recreation. Experience the Westhoek and… Feel Flanders Fields. 

FOR EVERMORE - In Flanders Fields Museum

With ‘For Evermore: First World War Cemeteries', the In Flanders Fields Museum presents the stories behind the military cemeteries in the Westhoek. Explore them with an audio guide or follow the adapted children's trail. This exhibition is the perfect start to exploring the historic war landscape for yourself.

LANDSCAPES TOGETHER WITH CHILDREN

For families, ‘For Evermore’ is the ideal starting point from which to visit the commemorative landscape of the Westhoek! Thanks to the accessible presentation, children (from aged 10) can discover the history of the landscape, the cemeteries and the fallen. An audio trail tailored to children completes the visit.

The Salient Illustrated 

'The Salient Illustrated' is In Flanders Fields Museum's latest educational trip: with an interactive tablet workshop in farmstead Klein Zwaanhof and a tour of numerous British memorial sites, including the redeveloped site 'Yorkshire Trench & Dugout', the only authentic British trench in the North of the Ypres Salient that has been restored along its original route. The battlefield cemeteries Colne Valley Cemetery and Caesar's Nose are also visited. Drawings of the British cartoonist Dave Chisholm's are the guide to better read and understand the war landscape.

(for the 3rd grade of primary and secundary school)

The Front Eye - Hooge Crater Museum

The place where the Hooge Crater museum is located today, right on the front line, was immensely important during the 4-year world war. It was not for nothing that this was 'the hottest place on earth' from October 1914 to September 1918.

The devastating mine explosion of 19/07/1915 was later symbolically translated into a large white circle on Hooge Crater Cemetery, which you can really grasp today, especially from above.

The Front Eye wants to connect all these elements and make the link between the museum, the landscape and the cemetery. This via a unique and brand new vantage point in the museum: the reconstruction chapel of the Hooge. The large rose window in that heritage chapel allows you to look out over HILL 60 , HILL 62, Hooge Crater cemetery, the Kemmelberg and the Ypres Salient.

The platform unpacks with stories of soldiers who were buried here, 5 chips with each their story and each with their personal items. You visit their grave, dive into their history and discover their medals or other personal objects. The disappeared cemeteries also play a central role in this new exhibition. There were 3 French and 3 German cemeteries on the Hooge and the Meenseweg, all of which have disappeared or been cleared away. Unique photos and plans bring this forgotten history back to life.

The Front Eye brings you the answer why these hills were fought for so long for 4 years, why the small height differences were so important, why Hooge Crater played such an immense strategic role. And that right on the spot where it all happened.

The Last Post in the landscape

New, poignant stories of fallen soldiers are being added to the existing Last Post App. All the histories are linked to the surrounding landscape as far as possible: maps take visitors to the place where a soldier fought, was injured, cared for, died or buried. 

The stories are also the main theme of the four evocations. For this, the Last Post Association leaves its trusted location under Menin Gate and ventures into the landscape. The evocations zoom in on one or more stories and are linked to music and word. Of course, the buglers from the Last Post Association will be present. 

Peace Bridge - Pacific Eiland

The fortifications of Ypres, the City of Peace, gain their own Peace Bridge: a harmonious combination of art, monument and architecture. It is a memorial that inspires reflection.

The Peace Bridge is constructed of weathering steel. The guard rail is artistically embellished with the word 'peace' in 86 languages. The Peace Bridge is always accessible and forms a new powerful, artistic and multi-lingual focal point in the city: a statement of universal tolerance reinforcing Ypres's message of peace.

Witnesses in the Landscape - CWGC

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission's military cemeteries are spread throughout the Westhoek. They are witnesses of the 'Great War'. Each site is unique and reveals the story of the victims buried there and the violence of war suffered at that location. In the info centre at Menin Gate, you can discover the global organisation behind these exceptional locations. Venture out and visit one of these locations:

1. Artillery Wood Cemetery, Poezelstraat, 8900 Ieper
2. Bedford House Cemetery, Rijselseweg 8902 Zillebeke  
3. Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood and Polygon Wood Cemetery, Lange Dreve, 8980 Zonnebeke
4. Cement House Cemetery, Boezingestraat, 8920 Langemark-Poelkapelle
5. Duhallow A.D.S. Cemetery, Diksmuidseweg, 8900 Ieper  
6. Essex Farm Cemetery, Diksmuidseweg, 8900 Ieper  
7. Hooge Crater Cemetery, Meenseweg, 8902 Zillebeke  
8. Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery,  Boescheepseweg, 8970 Poperinge 
9. Maple Copse Cemetery, Schachtweidestraat 45, 8900 Ieper
10. Messines Ridge British Cemetery and (N.Z.) Memorial, N314, 8957 Mesen
11. New Irish Farm Cemetery, Briekestraat, 8900 Sint-Jan
12. Passchendaele New British Cemetery, ‘s Graventafelstraat, 8980 Zonnebeke
13. Perth Cemetery (China Wall), Maaldestedestraat, 8900 Ieper
14. Poelcappelle British Cemetery, Brugseweg, 8920 Langemark-Poelkapelle
15. Poperinghe New Military Cemetery, Deken de Bolaan 127, 8970 Poperinge 
16. Prowse Point Military Cemetery, Huttebergweg, 7784 Komen-Waasten
17. Railway Dugouts Burial Ground (Transport Farm), Komenseweg, 8902 Zillebeke
18. Ramparts Cemetery, Lille Gate, Rijselpoort, 8900 Ieper
19. Sanctuary Wood Cemetery, Canadalaan 25/21, 8902 Zillebeke
20. Tyne Cot Cemetery and Memorial, Vijfwegestraat, 8980 Passendale 
21. Ypres Reservoir Cemetery, Haiglaan, 8900 Ieper
22. Ypres Town Cemetery and Extension, Zonnebeekseweg 14, 8900 Ieper

LANDSCAPES TOGETHER WITH CHILDREN! 

Children get active with a customised do-booklet: how many tigers, elephants or springboks can they count on the regiment badges on the graves? Which nationalities can they find? An audio guide designed especially for them takes families to carefully selected sites. 

You can collect the do-booklet and scavenger hunt map about Menin Gate for free in the CWGC information centre on Menenstraat.