Hoogstade is a village in the municipality of

Alveringem Alveringem (; vls, Oalveringem) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Alveringem proper, Beveren-aan-de-IJzer, Gijverinkhove, Hoogstade, Izenberge, Leisele, Oeren, Sint-R ...

in the

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

province of

West Flanders West Flanders ( nl, West-Vlaanderen ; vls, West Vloandern; french: (Province de) Flandre-Occidentale ; german: Westflandern ) is the westernmost province of the Flemish Region, in Belgium. It is the only coastal Belgian province, facing the No ...

. The village is located on the N8. Until 1971, Hoogstade was an independent municipality.

Overview

Hoogstade was first mentioned in 859 als Hostede. In 1578, the first armed meeting of Protestants in

Veurne-Ambacht Veurne-Ambacht was a viscounty ( ''kasselrij'', ''burggraafschap'') in the County of Flanders. Agriculture contributed mostly to the prosperous area. In the viscountship's capital city Veurne, the ''Landhuis''In the city of Veurne's center, the ...

took place in Colaertshille near Hoogstade. In 1794, the village was destroyed by French troops. Hoogstade was spared 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, ...

. In 1871 Clep, a retirement home, had been built in the village. On 29 January 1915, it was decided to turn the retirement home into a hospital, because it was close to the

Yser Front The Yser Front (french: Front de l'Yser, nl, Front aan de IJzer or ), sometimes termed the West Flemish Front in British writing, was a section of the Western Front during World War I held by Belgian troops from October 1914 until 1918. The front ...

, yet at a safe distance from the artillery bombardments. The Belgian Field Hospital was very important during the

Second Battle of Ypres During the First World War, the Second Battle of Ypres was fought from for control of the tactically important high ground to the east and south of the Flemish town of Ypres in western Belgium. The First Battle of Ypres had been fought the pr ...

. It had a capacity of 200 beds. Nevertheless 1,320 soldiers died in the hospital. As of 2014, Clep is in use as a homeless shelter. The Hoogstade Belgian Military Cemetery is located near Hoogstade. Originally it also contained 150 French and some German graves. Nowadays, it is the resting ground for 805 Belgian, and 20 British soldiers. 17 Belgian soldiers are unidentified. In 1971, the municipality was merged into

References

Alveringem Populated places in West Flanders {{belgium-geo-stub