New attempt to have WWI sites in Westhoek recognized as Unesco World Heritage
An earlier attempt by then Prime Minister Geert Bourgeois failed. A new top will be appointed in September to deal with the application.
In April 2018, the independent scientific advisory body of the Icomos World Heritage Committee gave a negative advice for the Unesco recognition of Flemish, Walloon and French sites of the First World War.
But Unesco then proved very reluctant to recognize remnants of the war past as World Heritage. But does the new application have a chance? “I think it has been very good that we have now turned it into peace education, that it has become even more topical due to the war in Ukraine and that we have a much better chance from that perspective,” says Flemish minister Diependaele.
Westhoek
In West Flanders alone, 19 sites were selected. This involved 15 military cemeteries, but also defensive constructions and memorial monuments, spread over 10 municipalities in the Westhoek. The list includes the Menin Gate in Ypres, Tyne Cot Cemetery in Zonnebeke, the German cemetery in Vladslo, the crypt of the Yser Tower in Diksmuide, the Peace Tower in Messines and the Canadian Monument The Brooding Soldier in Langemark-Poelkapelle. (Read more below the photo)
“one-sided view”
Then Prime Minister and Minister of Heritage Geert Bourgeois (2018): “The Icomos World Heritage Committee concludes that our file does not represent an exceptional universal value, and therefore advises not to include it on the World Heritage List. Icomos, in our opinion, takes a rather one-sided view on the file, highlighting in particular its war-related character. However, this is not a file on the battlefields of WWI, with all possible associations with war, violence, triumphalism. It is a file that focuses on the cemeteries and memorial sites of WWI I, to peace, values, individuals, reconciliation.”
Surprised
In Ypres, they react with surprise to the news and the city, the In Flanders Fields Museum and the Last Post Association do not want to react immediately. Whoever does, is historian Franky Bostyn. Recognition would be a good thing, he says. “It is a good thing that the minister has taken up this dossier again. Because recognition as a world heritage gives our beautiful Westhoek an enormous amount of cachet. And it will undoubtedly have a major impact on the preservation of our heritage and on the number of visitors coming to the area.”