Funerary and memory sites of the First World War

Visited September 2023

I know it means nothing and will change nothing, but I am against this kind of inscriptions! UNESCO is opening the door to any national or international conflict. Even if the monuments to the dead are of the highest artistic value, I cannot forget that they were constructed and built to commemorate also those who were killing, not only defending themselves – for me it is a shame that we make passed or recent wars something to appreciate – and UNESCO list should be made of sites that merit to be unique in a positive way… You can ask me: why you visit these cemeteries and monuments? I visit lots of places, these one amongst them. But not to make them something special, rather to remember that conflicts make conflicts and wars make wars. There are others who do not share my point of view and my point of feelings… For some of them to put something on a pedestal means fighting, fighting without any reflection… I do not even want to imagine that in some years (probably I will not be here anymore) UNESCO World Heritage List (Liste du Patrimoine Mondial de l’UNESCO) would be dotted with war graves and war symbols… Thousands of crosses (like on the picture) do not make me be proud of…

I visited several minor Belgian locations and cemeteries of this tWHS over the past years and in May 2023 I focused mainly on the French locations around the Ossuary of Douaumont. The latter visit fully convinced me that this tWHS truly possesses tangible OUV as the area around Verdun is basically one whole cultural/memorial landscape shaped by World War I.

The Douamont Ossuary is managed by a private foundation that clearly underlines that the site is "non-subsidised since 1919 although recognised as promoting the public interest". I tried to keep this in mind when paying the 7 euro ticket for a well-presented overview view video and the chance to visit the "cloister" and climb the 46 metre tower known as the Lantern of the Dead, which contains a 2 tonne bell which is struck at 12 and at 4pm. The tower is given this name as it partly lights the battlefield and the necropolis at night and the panoramic view of the cemetery from the top gives you a better idea of the sheer size and landscape shaped by war. On either side of the entrance to the tower, the 133 metre main gallery is home to 46 cenotaphs in 18 alcoves. These symbolic tomb stones cover spaces containing the remains found in various areas of the battlefield. Without paying for any ticket, these spaces and countless bones and skulls can be seen through the windows located at the rear of the monument. In the cloister, the names of …

July/August 2018 - I learned quite intensively and detailed about the Grand Guerre. In German schools WW2 and the prior rise to power by the Nazis is extensively discussed, but without understanding the reasons and the effects of WW1 it doesnt really make sense.

With crossing of the border we arrived in the zone rouge. It is not only devistated by mining but also due to the war. North of Arras, we came through crater landscapes, where you can still see the trenches, were French/British troops were fighting the German troops. Quite impressive, that it has fomred this area so much. East of Amiens we visited the Australian cemetery (a frightning amount of graves) where you wonder why Australians, Arabs, Maoris, Chinese, and, and and were fighting for nonsense in European dexterity. We went further to Albert and the Lochnagar-Krater (dont understand why this is not on the tentative list). The touristic scope seems to be mostly on WWI in this area. 

Towards the end of our roadtrip we crossed the region around Verdun. more than 1 million soldieres died here within one giant battle. There are many sites around here that shall be visited: Fort de Douaumont was already built before in preparation of a Franco-german war, but the most impressive, thoughtful places is the Douaumont Ossuary which holds the remains of 130000 unidentified soldiers.

WW1 is probably the most perverted event in history that evolved due to strengthening of nationalist ideas. It was the last …

There is clearly an opposition to glorify war memorials by the advisory board and I used to agree until I visited the sites in Belgium and France to see the WWI funeral sites. These do not glorify the war at all. They instead remind us how countries bonded together to protect each other, something I don't see as black and white in today's political climate.

Right from the start these sites are pretty grim. They do not talk about “victory”, only about the losses of protecting Belgium and France. I am not going to go into the war details, that you can read up online of course, but it clear to me that these sites differ from any war memorial in the world's including Pearl Harbor, funeral sites in Turkey, Normandy beaches, countless others. The main difference is that these sites tend to show their own losses in war and how they won or suffered, not how the world came together to protect from “evil”.

The main highlights to visit are Tyne Cot cemetery and Menin Gate. Each doesn't take long to see but gave me lots to think about. If you can time your visit with an event at the gate you are even better off.

"You want to go where?" my aunt asked me. "La Grande Tombe de Villeroy, it's just next to Meaux, we can pass it on our way to the airport."

You need to know my mother's family is from Meaux, a town East of Paris. And indeed when coming from the East (Epernay) and heading to the world's worst airport (Charles de Gaulles), you pass within a few kilometers of the site.

My aunt asked again what precisely I wanted to see there. "A Nécropole, must a big thing" I said. Now my French is okay, but not perfect, so my aunt was trying to make sure she didn't misunderstand me. Eventually, she accepted that I meant the tomb. But she corrected me: "It's not a big thing, it's a small sign along the road." I couldn't quite fathom this information (Nécropole, Grande Tombe?), so I quickly googled the site and indeed: La Grande Tombe is pretty tiny. Most people in nearby Meaux wouldn't even know about it. But thanks to an inquisitive friend my aunt had been before and was able to counsel against a visit. Instead we stopped in Dormans on our way to the airport.

Dormans was my second site of the serial nomination. I had been to the cemetery in Arras just next to the Vauban fortification a year prior. In Arras you will find a simple toned down cemetery. Dormans is different, already signified by the address: Avenue des Victoires (Victory …

The sites related to WW1 are of great universal significance. The conflict had a huge impact not only for the people who were involved in it but also for all mankind. It took human people from the era of artisanal and local war to industrial and global war. The site also embodies the need, following the conflict, to honour and remember, on a large scale, those who fought and suffered. For the first time, anonymous fighters were honoured as much as famous heroes.

I have visited sites in Verdun, Somme, Chemin des Dames, Westhoek and other parts of Belgium. To me, the most striking testimony of the conflict is around Verdun. The whole landscape around the city has been modified by the conflict, from fully destroyed villages to forts, from forests in which traces of bombs are still visible to cemeteries.

The cemeteries and memorials of World War I are on the list of missing sites on this website (no. 50), and I also voted for them. Back then my vote was based on information from articles and TV documentaries and on a visit to Verdun at the age of 16. In 2015, I had the opportunity to visit some of the proposed sites at two occasions: a revisit to Verdun in April and several sites near Reims and Amiens on our trip through northern France in September.

The French part of this transnational site comprises 80 elements evenly distributed along the line of the western front from the Belgian border to the Vosges. Actually the list is more than twice as long because a lot of the locations are further divided into sub-locations. The selection was made from more than a thousand potential sites and some principles are apparent: a) the geographical distribution, all regions along the course of the front are represented; b) the variety of sites: huge national memorials but also small monuments dedicated to individual persons or certain events; cemeteries of all sizes, some with only a few dozen graves and others with an inconceivable number; c) all involved nations are represented.

The commemoration of all victims is equal irrespective of nation, race, creed or military rank, the graves and engravings of names are uniform. But there are differences between the nations in the style of the cemeteries and graves. Certainly, the most striking difference …

Our failure ever to visit the WWI sites of the Western Front had long been an “annoying” gap in our travel portfolio – especially as I had voted them for the “Top 50 Missing”! So rectifying this was one of the numerous objectives to be achieved whilst we were over for the 2015 WHS “get together”.

An immediate problem facing anyone wanting to see these sites is how to choose from among the many locations listed in the Belgian and French T List entries. Yes - it appears that (unlike the separate nearby Coal Mines inscriptions) this is to be a “transnational” nomination. It is interesting to note that Belgium was first into the field with its T List proposal “Lieux de memoire et monuments de la Grande Guerre: le Westhoek et Regions voisines” from as long ago as 2002. However, in 2014 France decided to get in on the act, and a newly titled combined entry appeared in each country’s T List. We spent a day visiting sites in both countries but I will limit this review to the Belgian side. I may review the French memorials later - for us this has been a year of “war memorials”, having visited Gallipoli also. I am still resolving my thoughts on the whole subject, on the differences in national approach and on the whole subject of their suitability as WHS.

People visiting these sites will have a vast range of reasons to for doing so - we met …

Im a 32 year old belgian, this review starts with a shame on me. Why? Well today i visited the Westhoek for the first time.

It was a beautiful sunny early autumn day so we wanted to visit the theme park Bellewaerde near Ypres. At arrival we saw that it was overcrowded so we decided to explore the region instead. Our tour brought us from one cemetery to the other. all as confronting as breathtaking. the amazing serenity, the perfect maintenance, the purity of every memorial, the multitude of origins of victims made us realize the global size of horror, trauma, tragedy millions of people from all around the world carried and are still carrying today. After visiting the trenches of Hill 61 and the small but very straight to the bone museum next to it, our feet were finally put in the middle of the reality of the Westhoek inhuman cruelty of 1914 till1918. This Iddillic scenery should not lose its historical importance and contrast.

You see here that people write long reviews. I don't think its because we like to write. I think its just because 'we have to' after visiting this most beautiful region with such a short but oh so important black chapter in history.

I love to travel and with great admiration I have visited many World Heritage Sites already in my life. But I live only 1h from the Westhoek, ignorant and naive. A Theme park with some rollercoasters with too long cues should …

I really became aware of this tentative WHS only after the favourable comments made at the 'Top 50 Missing'-topic at the Forum. World War I has largely passed by on the Netherlands and one seldom hears about it here. The first time I really was confronted with what this war meant was when I started studying History at University. There we had to watch the 1916 propagandafilm 'Battle of the Somme' with its graphic portrayal of trench warfare.

So I decided this was a tentative WHS surely to be visited and on a Sunday in June I drove 2,5 hours south to Ieper. The town itself has the usual Flemish charm. What's extra here are the numbers of English tourists and schoolgroups. I started my rounds at the In Flanders Fields-museum. It's a very visual museum with lots of photos, large objects and films. It also draws heavy on the participation of the 'World' in the 'World War'.

The Menin gate is the most important WWI monument in Ieper. It's a British war memorial to the 54.896 missing soldiers. Very impressive to find such a monument in such a small-sized town. I also drove to the British-Canadian Maple Copse cemetery, one of the many that are scattered among the farming fields.

In all, it's an important site to a large part of the world population, almost like a pilgrimage site nowadays. It would be a valuable addition to the List, one even wonders why it takes so long. Maybe it …

I have visited these sites on two separate occasions. The first time was on a school trip that visited many of the battlefields and memorials to the First World War (le Grande Guerre) in this region of Europe, this trip included visits to the sites across the boarder in France especially those connected with the battle of the Somme. I would hope that these monuments would be added to the Belgian entry.

The main memories I have are of the rows and rows of immaculately kept graves representing soldiers lost from all over the world. It is a sobering but magnificent site the sheer number of graves is incredible and the fact that they are still so magnificently looked after is a real credit to all involved. The prominence and importance of the sites are obviously derived from the large amounts of lives lost in the fields of this corner of Europe, however the exceptional plans and landscape design are also of significant note.

10 years after my initial visit I returned to the area to visit the Flemish city of Ieper (Ypres) which was almost totally destroyed in the first world war. There are memorials all around the city the most famous and stirring is the Menin gate where the last post bugle call is played every evening, it is a very sobering and sombre occasion but certainly worth witnessing. The Gate itself is covered with thousands of names of those that died fighting for the city and is …