The IJzertoren: and the new Flemish approach to the war
Did you know that...
- the Touring Club of Belgium in 1927 prevented the Trench of Death in Diksmuide, a unique witness to the suffering of war, from being demolished to make way for a road?
- the art deco architecture of the IJzertoren was based on Joe English' drawings of Flemish gravestones?
- the slogan AVV-VVK, 'Everything for Flanders, Flanders for Christ' already existed in 1881?
- an estimated 700,000 m3 of seawater flowed into the polders during the inundation?
Today, the renovated IJzertoren, the main WWI entry point of the northern Westhoek, embodies the new Flemish approach to the war. The focus is now on highlighting the Belgian-German front and the Flemish emancipation as part of a total story. The site is the crown jewel of this book, which also discusses the other points of interest of the Great War in Diksmuide and Nieuwpoort.