Das Schwarze Brett - Issue 5

14
A Century Since...
World War I Ended November 11 at the 11th Hour
Der Erste Weltkrieg, „the great war“, „la grande guerre“,
hat das Bewusstsein der Menschheit nachhaltig verändert.
Angesichts der Millionen von Opfern auf den „Flandern
Fields“ wurde der Ruf „Nie wieder Krieg“ von dort in die
Welt herausgetragen. Bombenkrater, Schützengräben,
Soldatenfriedhöfe und Mahnmale für die Gefallenen
aus über 50 Ländern prägen noch immer das Bild der
Landschaft. Anlässlich des 100. Jahrestages werden im
Zeitraum 2014-18 in Flandern bedeutende Gedenkfeiern
und Ausstellungen stattfinden.
At 11 am on 11 November the fighting stopped on the
Western Front. Estimates of fatal casualties for all
nationalities resulting from the occupation and fighting
around Ypres between 1914 and 1918 were in the region
of 600,000.
Now, one hundred years later, Flanders invites visitors to
remember lives of all those impacted by the conflict – and
what better place to do so than Flanders Fields?
Numerous museums, events, and exhibitions shed light on
the various facets of the Great War: the military operations,
trench warfare, political alliances, propaganda, etc. In
addition, various art exhibitions offer a truly individual,
artistic view of the horrors of WWI. Wherever you go in
Flanders Fields, whether by car, by bike, or on foot, you
come across the remnants and scars of the Great War.
The region is dotted with hundreds of monuments and
cemeteries, some of which contain no more than a few
graves. Themed walking, biking, and driving tours guide
you through this landscape.
Other areas were also completely destroyed. The most
well-known village is Passchendaele. It was here that
in 1917 the Allied army fought for several months in a
desperate bid to break the German line. During the battle,
the Allied forces lost nearly 300,000 men in capturing
this ruined village after advancing over a few miles of
shell-blasted mud. They began referring to the village as
“Passion-dale”: the valley of suffering. In the neighbouring
village you can see the cost of this ‘victory’ in human life:
Tyne Cot Cemetery, with almost 12,000 tombstones.
Known as Vladslo, in Praetbos forest, this German
cemetery is the final resting place of some 25,638
German soldiers. On display at the cemetery is a moving
sculpture, The Grieving Parents. Created by Käthe
Kollwitz, a major German expressionist artist, out of
personal grief and love for her 18-year old son Peter, who
was killed in the war.
There will be many events throughout 2018 to commerate
the final moments of World War I and one of them is an
exhibit in Flanders Fields Museum in Ypress to take a
closer look at the archeological remains of the war in the
Westhoek region.
www.inflandersfield.be
©Westcoast German News publishes Das Schwarze Brett 6 times a year