"Langemark, who's talking about the "bad guys"" Langemark by Pavlik_NL

Germans are after two worldwars often seen as the "bad guys", but let us never forget that the soldiers fighting on the front are just people like you and me. Almost (well, that's a strange word now) the soldiers on either side discovered that on the miraculous Christmas evening in 1914. At the start of the war, the officers didn;t have a clue what was going on in the tranches, but from either side one heared the Christmas carols drifting over no man's land. Soldiers crawled out of their tranches, shook hands, played football or sang together. If only they recognised the foolishness of starting to shoot again the next day.

We shall remember all / Wir werden Alle gedenken

German cemetries were numerous after the war ended. Scattered throughout the former frontline and recognisable for the wooden crosses: black because of the tar one used to keep them longer (only allied forces had white stone ones). The cemetries were small until the wargrave department decided to make a few large ones that also contained massgraves (something you don't see in British cemetries). Langemark became the spot where 44.061 German soldiers found their last restingground. The cemetry is more sober and because of the darker colours more depressing then the average other one.

Langemark churchtower rising upward

Together with Poelkapelle, Langemark is forming one municipality within the West Flanders province. This twin village cooperates in many fields and is also a good place to stay outside of Ieper (there are a few inns). The church of Langemark is quite large and has a remarkable architecture for a village church. The town was situated just outside the frontline and therefor has still few oroginal old houses left. One can find them scattered throughout the centre.