WW1 Museums in the Ypres Salient, Belgium
There are a growing number of public and private First World War museums in the Ypres Salient area. They contain military collections ranging from rare battlefield relics and archive collections to original trench systems, dugouts and commemorative sites.
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In Flanders Fields Museum, Ieper
Closure: The museum is undergoing a major redevelopment and will be closed over the winter from 14th November 2011 to 11th June 2012.
This award winning museum is located in the Cloth Hall (Lakenhallen) in central Ieper / Ypres.
In Flanders Fields Museum50.85103752
2.88652775
Hooge Crater Museum
Hooge (4 kilometres east of Ypres).
50.846508966836
2.943735122681
Hooge Crater MuseumSituated on the Menin Road this is a very good private museum with fine collections and exhibits. There is a large café with indoor and outdoor seating, and the museum provides good facilities and options of varied rates for group visits.
Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917
Zonnebeke (8 kilometres north-east of Ypres)
50.870798490
2.988667488098
Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917Housed in a chateau at Zonnebeke this excellent museum focuses on the Third Battle of Ypres. It includes a life-size replica complex of bunkers and trenches built in the cellars of the chateau.
Messines (Mesen) Historical Museum
Mesen / Messines (10 kilometres south of Ypres): closed for redevelopment. Planned for re-opening in 2014.
Pond Farm near St. Julien
St. Julien (6 kilometres north-east of Ypres)
50.88523310700978
2.9472917318344116
The farm near St. Julien was known as Pond Farm on British Army trench maps, and Kazerne Häseler on German military maps. After the Second Battle of Ypres in May 1915 the farm was in German occupied ground. By 1917 Pond Farm was one of many reinforced strongpoints in the German Army's defensive line. Three large bunkers, small bunkers, tunnels and cellars formed the fortifications at this place. A private museum at the farm includes a collection of antique items from the First World War period and many fascinating relics found on the battlefields around the farm.
For a comprehensive history of the farm with photos and what visitors can see there go to the website at www.depondfarm.be
Sanctuary Wood Museum (Hill 62)
Zillebeke (5 kilometres east of Ypres)
Sanctuary Wood Museum (Hill 62)A rare site to see the layout of an original British trench system complete with a tunnel through which you can walk with suitable waterproof footware.
50.8368380376
2.9459452629
Talbot House (TOC H)
Poperinge (10 kilometres west of Ypres)
50.85611919405481
2.7229678630828857
Talbot House (Toc H)Talbot House was founded in December 1915 by Padre Tubby Clayton as an Everyman's Club, where officers and soldiers could leave their rank at the front door and relax together in a house with homely comforts behind the fighting lines.
The house is a living museum but it is also a place where visitors can stay.
Related Topics
Artillery shells on display at the museum in the Ulster Tower Memorial to 36th Ulster Division on the Somme battlefield. 
Museums on the Somme Battlefields
Museums on the French Flanders and Artois Battlefields
Acknowledgements
Photograph of Pond Farm courtesy of www.depondfarm.be