The Ypres Salient
Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917
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The Ypres Salient
Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917
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Ypres Salient MuseumsMap LocationsIn Flanders Fields Hill 62 Hooge Crater Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 Messines Talbot House (Toc H) Ypres Salient MuseumsMap LocationsIn Flanders Fields Hill 62 Hooge Crater Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 Messines Talbot House (Toc H) The Ypres SalientThe Ypres SalientMap Battles Ypres/Ieper Poperinge Museums Cemeteries Accommodation 1914-1918 ReferenceThe Western FrontThe Ypres Salient Second Battle of Ypres The Somme War Graves Tracing relatives Resources & Links Bibliography Remembering Poppy Umbrella Hear Last Post 'In Flanders Fields' Armistice Day in Ypres Flanders Memorial Poppy Gardens of Remembrance InterpretationsPoemsAbout the siteWho we areRembrella  |
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The museum tells the story of the war in the Ypres Salient with special emphasis on the Battle of Passchendaele 1917, one of the bloodiest battles of the First World War. Zonnebeke Chateau is situated in the centre of Zonnebeke, 3 miles from the A19 (exit 4) and 2 miles from Tyne Cot Military Cemetery, the largest British and Commonwealth cemetery in Europe. The Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 is the ideal place to start a visit of the Passchendaele battlefields. During the Great War of 1914-1918 the villages of Passendale, Zonnebeke, Beselare, Geluveld and Zandvoorde became famous for the part they played on the battlefields of the Ypres Salient. The area was devastated by the end of the war in November 1918. The MuseumThe Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 is a follow-up to the Streekmuseum that was located on the second floor of Zonnebeke chateau from 1989 until 2002. A valuable collection has been built up which can be considered as the biggest public collection of the First World War in West Flanders. In the second part of the museum the visitor walks through a 1917 trench reconstruction and descends into a reconstruction of a 20 foot deep dugout with head quarters, accommodation, workshop, communication room and first aid post. In the tenth and last room of the dugout the visitor can see historical photos, film of excavations and relics. For the Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 the interior of Zonnebeke chateau was completely adapted with respect for the authenticity of the building. The dugout rooms are located in the cellars, the first floor houses the reception, the tourist information centre and room for temporary exhibitions. The museum is on the second floor. Educational ServiceFor full details of the activities and educational pack visit the museum's educational service website page at www.passchendaele.be or email education@passchendaele.be The Passchendaele ArchivesThe Museum is undertaking a project from 2005 to 2007 to put faces and stories to the names of the dead and missing of the Battle of Passchendaele by building a personal record with photographs, family documentation and information from military sources. If a member of your family fought at Passchendaele and died in action or of wounds and you have information about him the museum would like to hear from you. For more info see the museum's webpage at www.passchendaele.be Dugouts in Zonnebeke In January 1918 25,000 British tunnellers and 50,000 attached infantry built almost 200 independent constructions. These dugouts were built to accommodate from 50 to 2,000 men (such as at Wieltje and Hill 63). In March 1918 there were more men living underground than there are inhabitants living in the area today. After the war, when the battlefields were cleared and the fields were levelled during the 1920s, the entrances to these underground constructions were closed up and forgotten. Eighty years on, although some are flooded, they are still in good condition and are now the most authentic relics of the Great War in Flanders. Zonnebeke and its five villages have the biggest concentration of underground constructions. In 1983 a dugout was discovered at the rear of the Terca brickworks. The dugout, called Bremen Redoubt, was open to the public until 1998. During the archaeological excavations of the Augustinian abbey a second dugout was discovered under Zonnebeke church. The outline of the dugout is marked in an archaeological garden. The most important discovery took place on 21st February when a farmer’s wife disappeared into the ground while she was washing the windows. Beecham Dugout was discovered no more than 400 metres from Tyne Cot Cemetery (Passendale). All dugouts are located within a radius of about a mile from the museum, Zonnebeke Church dugout being in the grounds of the Zonnebeke chateau itself. Because these dugouts are generally not accessible for the public, a life-like reconstruction has been built in the Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917. Tour Routes: A landscape of memoriesThe museum provides specially mapped-out routes for walkers and cyclists. Tyne Cot Military Cemetery is the largest British and Commonwealth military cemetery in Europe. In addition there are other military cemeteries, monuments and commemorative plaques to units which fought in the Zonnebeke region in the area. Zandvoorde is the location of a very impressive German bunker dating back to 1916. The bunker consists of six compartments and can be visited daily. It gives the opportunity to look upon Passchendaele 1917 from a German point of view. New: Two years ago a German first aid post was discovered near Clapham Junction (near the Menin Road east of Hooge). The underground complex is known as Cryer Farm, named after a British lieutenant who fell during the capture of Geluveld in 1917. He is believed to be Second Lieutenant Bernard Noel Cryer of the 7th Battalion, London Regiment. He was killed in action on 15th September 1917 and is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing (panels 52-54). This unique bunker is located on private property and can only be visited upon request via the Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917. New: German trenches at Bayernwald, Wijtschate. Thanks to a collaboration with the Association for Battlefield Archaeology in Flanders, the Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 can also arrange a FREE visit to a recently restored German trench-system in Wytschaete, including 300 metres of trenches, four concrete bunkers, a mortar post and a 100 feet deep mineshaft. This is a real experience for visitors as they can walk through the trenches, discovering the bunkers etc., similar to Hill 62, but German and authentically rebuilt on archaeological traces and with educational plates and reception room. There is no entrance fee, but a guide is advisable to describe in detail what you see and how men survived in these circumstances. A qualified guide costs about € 20 euro / hour. New: Information plates with details (both in Dutch and in English), maps and photos can be found on several World War I sites:
Group Coach Tour (3 hours)Also, groups can book a 3 hour standard coach tour which includes a guided visit to the major war sites in Zonnebeke, Polygon Wood, Clapham Junction, Menin Road, Gheluvelt, Broodseinde and Passchendaele. The price of the guided tour is € 7,00 per person. If more time is available this standard tour can be extended. The tour includes three visits:
Location of the Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917Leave Ieper centre via the Menin Gate and drive straight over the traffic lights on the road to Potijze and Zonnebeke. Zonnebeke is approximately 7 kilometres from Ieper. The museum is situated in the centre of the village in the chateau of Zonnebeke. Opening HoursMonday - Friday from 10.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. Saturdays, Sundays and official holidays from 2.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m. Closed: December and January. AdmissionAdmission charge. Group rates available. Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917, Ieperstraat 5, 8980 Zonnebeke, Belgium Telephone +32 (0) 51 77 04 41 Fax +32 (0) 51 78 07 50 email info@passchendaele.be www.zonnebeke.be and www.passchendaele.be Acknowledgements Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 (1) Photograph: Postcard Set, Série 1, Ypres, British Front during the War 1914-1918, Zonnebeke, Ern. Thill, Bruxelles. Copyright Joanna Legg & Graham Parker © 2004. Updated June 2007 All rights reserved |
The Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 was opened in
Zonnebeke Chateau on 25th April (Anzac-day) 2004. The museum was formerly
called the Streekmuseum.
The new museum focuses on the tragedy of the Third Battle of
Ypres within the whole of the First World War and the basic problem
of the breakthrough through the German front line. In nine rooms the visitor
is given a chronological survey of the war: the deadlock in the winter
of 1914-15, the technical efforts of the Allies to break out of the Ypres
Salient, the techniques of the German defencive line, the confrontation
of both sides in Passchendaele 1917, the German Spring Offensive in 1918,
the Allied offensive in the summer 1918 and memories of the war. The story
of the breakthrough at Passchendaele is presented by unique photos, a
large number of historical artefacts and several dioramas. 
The
Third Battle of Ypres (also known as the Battle
of Passchendaele 31 July - 10 November 1917) had smashed the
landscape around Zonnebeke to pieces. Having conquered the enemy territory
on the Passchendaele ridge the British Army established a new line. There
was, however, very little surviving natural shelter to protect them from
enemy artillery or air observation in the form of woods, farms and buildings.
Specialist Tunnelling Companies, which had been working in the south of
the Salient preparing for the Battle of Messines from 7 June 1917,
were moved into the northern sector of the Ypres Salient to construct
underground shelters and dugouts.