Langemark is a village in the
Belgian province of
West Flanders
)
, settlement_type = Province of Belgium
, image_flag = Flag of West Flanders.svg
, flag_size =
, image_shield = Wapen van West-Vlaanderen.svg
, shield_size =
, image_map ...
, and a
subdivision of the municipality of
Langemark-Poelkapelle. The village has about 5,000 inhabitants. Besides the village center, there are also three smaller hamlets on the territory, , Bikschote and
Saint-Julien/
Sint-Juliaan.
Written as Langemarck on French, British and German maps, the village is known in military history as the scene
see trench map of the first gas attacks by the German army in the western front, which marked the beginning of the
Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915.
Before and during the
First Battle of Ypres, the German reserve corps suffered enormous losses: over 10,000 young soldiers (some only 15 years old), led by young officers without practical experience, died without achieving any objective. On 10 November 1914, about 2,000 soldiers died during an attempted breakthrough. One day later, the German Command (
Oberste Heeresleitung
The ''Oberste Heeresleitung'' (, Supreme Army Command or OHL) was the highest echelon of command of the army (''Heer'') of the German Empire. In the latter part of World War I, the Third OHL assumed dictatorial powers and became the ''de facto'' ...
) published the following communiqué:
:''Westlich Langemarck brachen junge Regimenter unter dem Gesange‚
Deutschland, Deutschland über alles
The "" (; "Song of Germany"), officially titled "" (; "The Song of the Germans"), has been the national anthem of Germany either wholly or in part since 1922, except for a seven-year gap following World War II in West Germany. In East German ...
‘ gegen die erste Linie der feindlichen Stellungen vor und nahmen sie. Etwa 2.000 Mann französischer Linieninfanterie wurden gefangengenommen und sechs Maschinengewehre erbeutet.''
:In west Langemarck, youth regiments singing ''Germany, Germany Above All'' advanced on front line enemy positions, broke and took them. Approximately 2,000 French line infantry and six machine guns were captured.
A popular and enduring myth of heroic self-sacrifice for the nation known as the "Mythos von Langemarck" arose from the propagandistic story. For this reason, the Flemish division of the
Waffen-SS
The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with volunteers and conscripts from both occupied and unoccupied lands.
The grew from th ...
was named
27th SS Volunteer Division ''Langemarck''.
The village was destroyed during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
. There is now a major German war cemetery, the
Langemark German war cemetery, (''Soldatenfriedhof'') in this location, which has about 40,000 burials.
See also
*
27th SS Volunteer Division Langemarck
*
Langemarck 1917
*
Saint Julien Memorial, to Canadian soldiers of World War I
Gallery
File:Area at Langemark-Poelkapelle German War Cemetery1.jpg, Farm at Langemark
File:Flanders fields at Langemark-Poelkapelle 2.JPG, Fields at Langemark
File:Langemark_German_War_Cemetery_BCE1-0000.JPG
File:The-Brooding-Soldier.JPG, Monument for the World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
soldiers from Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...
. The Brooding Soldier in Langemark
File:LangemarkChurch.jpg, The church in Langemark
File:LJB9 - Langemarck B.jpg, Sacred hour at the monument of Langemarck (10 July 1932)
{{Authority control
Populated places in West Flanders