In remembrance of WW1 in Ypres

It's impossible to visit Ypres and ignore its First World War history. I wonder if its inhabitants sometimes would like to live without that memory. But it's harsh history is all around and Ypres has become symbol and one of the key cities of that front line.  And it's a simple fact that most of the tourism in the region is remembrance related. 

Our hotel was named "Flanders Fields" in link with the famous poem by John Mc Crae and the hotel lobby wall showed the poem. 

We visited the Flanders Field museum that is located in the rebuilt historic Lakenhalle on the market square. 

I found some images of the destruction of Leuven on 25/8/2014

On different themes there were poignant testimonies recorded by actors on life on front, being a refugee etc.  It just took a lot of time to watch them all to the end. 

Searching Hanzame on the frontlines where some of my ancestors originate from (before they fled, then partially ended up in Canada) 

In the city there are multiple war memorials, but the biggest and prominent one is of course the monumental Menin Gate built in 1928 where the Last Post remembrance is played each day at 8PM. I dedicated a seperate post to that before. 

On the ramparts there is also a commonwealth cimetary. 

And if you pay attention, some buildings still are silent witnesses of war violence (although I wonder if this wouldn't be from the 2nd World War as there wasn't exactly much standing up anymore in Ypres after the first World War).