In Flanders Fields Museum

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In Flanders Fields Museum
Flanders Fields Museum.JPG
In Flanders Fields Museum
Belgium location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location within Belgium
Established1998
LocationLakenhallen, Grote Markt 34, B 8900 Ieper, West Flanders, Belgium
Coordinates 50°51′04″N2°53′08″E / 50.851235°N 2.885643°E / 50.851235; 2.885643
Type World War I Military Museum named for the famous poem by Canadian John McCrae
Curator Piet Chielens
Nearest car parkOn site
Website www.inflandersfields.be/

The In Flanders Fields Museum is a museum in Ypres (Ieper), Belgium, dedicated to the study of the First World War. It occupies the second floor of the Cloth Hall (Lakenhalle) on the market square in the city centre. The building was largely destroyed by artillery during the war, but was afterwards reconstructed. In 1998 the original Ypres Salient Memorial Museum was refurbished and renamed In Flanders Fields Museum after the famous poem by Canadian John McCrae. Following a period of closure, the museum reopened on 11 June 2012. The curator, Piet Chielens, is a World War I historian.

Contents

The museum does not set out to glorify war, but to suggest its futility, particularly as seen in the West Flanders front region in World War I.

Programming

Cloth Hall, Ypres The Cloth Hall, Ypres, Belgium.jpg
Cloth Hall, Ypres
Banner outside the museum In Flanders Fields museum flag.jpg
Banner outside the museum

A range of activities are available, including walking itineraries and workshops. On entry to the museum each visitor receives a "Poppy Bracelet" containing a microchip, which activates the chosen language for the visitor. It also activates the personal story of four individuals as the visitor makes his or her way around the exhibitions. The exhibit tells the story of the invasion of Belgium, the first months of the mobilisation, the four years trench war in the Westhoek (from the beach of Nieuwpoort to the Leie in Armentieres), the end of the war, and the permanent remembrance ever since. The Bell Tower (Belfry) at the Cloth Hall, offers a view over the city, Saint George's Memorial Church, St Martin's Cathedral, the market place, the surrounding battlefields, and the Menin Gate. The museum presents a general introduction to World War I in Flanders with reference to other Allied museums and sites, such as Sanctuary Wood Museum Hill 62, Museum Godshuis Belle, and Canadian Hill 62 Memorial; whereas the Lange Max Museum focuses on the occupied German side. The museum is intended to encourage the visitor to view the actual sites for themselves.

The personal stories of how the First World War affected the lives of individuals of many nationalities are told through the many objects on display, interactive installations and lifelike characters within the larger picture of the Great War. The displays include medical equipment, gas masks, and a mule and munitions wagon exhibit. Themes of the consequences of war, how we look into our past, and how and why we remember are explored.

Museum shop

The museum shop sells First World War related books and guides, maps, postcards, CDs and gift items.

Research

The museum includes a new World War I research centre. The Names List Project is a project to compile a list of all those who died in the Westhoek region as a result of the First World War.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ypres</span> City in West Flanders, Belgium

Ypres is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name Ieper is the official one, the city's French name Ypres is most commonly used in English. The municipality comprises the city of Ypres/Ieper and the villages of Boezinge, Brielen, Dikkebus, Elverdinge, Hollebeke, Sint-Jan, Vlamertinge, Voormezele, Zillebeke, and Zuidschote. Together, they are home to about 34,900 inhabitants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Menin Gate</span> World War I memorial in Ypres, Belgium

The Menin Gate, officially the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing, is a war memorial in Ypres, Belgium, dedicated to the British and Commonwealth soldiers who were killed in the Ypres Salient of World War I and whose graves are unknown. The memorial is located at the eastern exit of the town and marks the starting point for one of the main roads that led Allied soldiers to the front line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John McCrae</span> Canadian poet and physician (1872–1918)

Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae was a Canadian poet, physician, author, artist and soldier during World War I, and a surgeon during the Second Battle of Ypres, in Belgium. He is best known for writing the famous war memorial poem "In Flanders Fields". McCrae died of pneumonia near the end of the war. His famous poem is a threnody, a genre of lament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flanders Field American Cemetery and Memorial</span> ABMC World War I cemetery in Waregem, Belgium

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tyne Cot</span> WWI CWGC cemetery near Passendale, Belgium

Tyne Cot Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery and Memorial to the Missing is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) burial ground for the dead of the First World War in the Ypres Salient on the Western Front. It is the largest cemetery for Commonwealth forces in the world, for any war. The cemetery and its surrounding memorial are located outside Passendale, near Zonnebeke in Belgium.

The Ypres Salient, around Ypres, in Belgium, was the scene of several battles and a major part of the Western Front during World War I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zillebeke</span>

Zillebeke is a village in the Flemish province of West Flanders in Belgium. It is a former municipality which is now part of Ypres.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ypres Cloth Hall</span> Medieval commercial building in Ypres, Belgium

The Cloth Hall is a large cloth hall, a medieval commercial building, in Ypres, Belgium. It was one of the largest commercial buildings of the Middle Ages, when it served as the main market and warehouse for the Flemish city's prosperous cloth industry. The original structure, erected mainly in the 13th century and completed 1304, lay in ruins after artillery fire devastated Ypres in World War I. Between 1933 and 1967, the hall was meticulously reconstructed to its prewar condition, under the guidance of architects J. Coomans and P. A. Pauwels. At 125 metres (410 ft) in breadth, with a 70 metres (230 ft)-high belfry tower, the Cloth Hall recalls the importance and wealth of the medieval trade city. The building now houses the In Flanders Fields Museum. In 1999, it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the Belfries of Belgium and France site, in recognition of their unique architecture, role in the advancement of civil liberties, and their civic, not religious, influence.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flanders Fields</span>

Flanders Fields is a common English name of the World War I battlefields in an area straddling the Belgian provinces of West Flanders and East Flanders as well as the French department of Nord-Pas-de-Calais, part of which makes up the area known as French Flanders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zillebeke Churchyard Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery</span> WWI CWGC cemetery in Ypres, Belgium

Zillebeke Churchyard Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery forms part of the village churchyard located around the Catholic parish church of Zillebeke in Belgium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reningelst</span> Deelgemeente in West Flanders, Belgium

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hooge, Ypres</span> Village in West Flanders, Belgium

Hooge is a small village on the Bellewaerde Ridge, about 4 kilometres east of Ypres in the Flemish province of West Flanders in Belgium. Hooge and the nearby locations of Bellewaerde and Zillebeke were merged into Ypres in 1976. The economy of Hooge is dominated by tourism and agriculture. Tourists are attracted by the World War I battlefields as well as Bellewaerde, the oldest operating theme park in Belgium.

Sint-Elooi is a small village, about 5 km (3.1 mi) south of Ypres in the Flemish province of West Flanders in Belgium. The former municipality is now part of Ypres. Though Sint-Elooi is the Dutch and only official name, the village's French name, St. Eloi, is most commonly used in English due to its role in World War I. The village and the nearby locations of Voormezele and Hollebeke were merged into Zillebeke in 1970 and into Ypres in 1976.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">177th Tunnelling Company</span> Military unit

The 177th Tunnelling Company was one of the tunnelling companies of the Royal Engineers created by the British Army during World War I. The tunnelling units were occupied in offensive and defensive mining involving the placing and maintaining of mines under enemy lines, as well as other underground work such as the construction of deep dugouts for troop accommodation, the digging of subways, saps, cable trenches and underground chambers for signals and medical services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hooge in World War I</span>

In World War I, the area around Hooge on Bellewaerde Ridge, about 2.5 mi (4 km) east of Ypres in Flanders in Belgium, was one of the easternmost sectors of the Ypres Salient and was the site of much fighting between German and Allied forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Site John McCrae</span> WWI battlefield memorial site

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hill 60 (Ypres)</span> World War I memorial site and park in Ypres, Belgium

Hill 60 is a World War I battlefield memorial site and park in the Zwarteleen area of Zillebeke south of Ypres, Belgium. It is located about 4.6 kilometres (2.9 mi) from the centre of Ypres and directly on the railway line to Comines. Before the First World War the hill was known locally as Côte des Amants. The site comprises two areas of raised land separated by the railway line; the northern area was known by soldiers as Hill 60 while the southern part was known as The Caterpillar.

References

Coordinates: 50°51′04.5″N2°53′08.3″E / 50.851250°N 2.885639°E / 50.851250; 2.885639