Zonnebeke (; ) is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

located in the Belgian

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

West Flanders West Flanders is the westernmost province of the Flemish Region, in Belgium. It is the only coastal Belgian province, facing the North Sea to the northwest. It has land borders with the Dutch province of Zeeland to the northeast, the Flemis ...

. The municipality comprises the villages of , ,

Passendale Passendale () or Passchendaele ( , ; ) is a rural Belgian village in the Zonnebeke municipality of West Flanders province. It is close to the town of Ypres, situated on the hill ridge separating the historical wetlands of the Yser and Leie val ...

, Zandvoorde and Zonnebeke proper. On January 1, 2006, Zonnebeke had a total population of 11,758. The total area is 67.57 km² which gives a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

of 174 inhabitants per km².

History

Destruction on the Western Front 1914-1918 Q12282

The villages of Zonnebeke congregated around a large Augustinian

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christians, Christian monks and nun ...

and its associated

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

in Nonnebosschen. Both were destroyed during the iconoclastic outbreak in 1580. Only the abbey was rebuilt, but was looted during the French occupation the abbey was confiscated. Passendale played a role in the Battle of Westrozebeke in 1382. Situated in the centre of the

Ypres Salient The Ypres Salient, around Ypres, in Belgium, was the scene of several battles and a major part of the Western Front during World War I. Location Ypres lies at the junction of the Ypres–Comines Canal and the Ieperlee. The city is overlooked b ...

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

destroyed the whole area. Left abandoned until the early 1920s, people slowly returned and rebuilt the villages. In 1932, the locals opened a cheese making facility, which to this day is the only source of Passendale cheese. Another battle during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

during the Allied advance across Europe, where Passendale was used in a defensive operations by the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

s, did little damage. Today, Zonnebeke has returned to its long-time balance between

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

, small business and work in the neighbouring towns. Its major industry is the

brickworks A brickworks, also known as a brick factory, is a factory for the manufacturing of bricks, from clay or shale. Usually a brickworks is located on a clay bedrock (the most common material from which bricks are made), often with a clay pit, quar ...

in the village of Zonnebeke itself, which extracts the local blue clay.

Zonnebeke underground

Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 - Zonnebeke Church Dugout model

The village and district of Zonnebeke and its five villages have the largest concentration of underground constructions from World War I, being located at the centre of the

Third Battle of Ypres The Third Battle of Ypres (; ; ), also known as the Battle of Passchendaele ( ), was a campaign of the First World War, fought by the Allies against the German Empire. The battle took place on the Western Front, from July to November 1917, f ...

Battle of Passchendaele The Third Battle of Ypres (; ; ), also known as the Battle of Passchendaele ( ), was a campaign of the First World War, fought by the Allies of World War I, Allies against the German Empire. The battle took place on the Western Front (World Wa ...

. The blue-clay is now being extracted for commercial purposes by the Terca Zonnebeke N.V.

factory A factory, manufacturing plant or production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. Th ...

, meaning that the structures are now regularly found as the brickworks expands its commercial extraction activities. About 180 dugout sites have been located in the

and in the 1990s some of them were entered, at least in part.Activities of The Diggers - Restoration of the Yorkshire Trench & Dug-out
access date 10 July 2015 In 1983, the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n-built Bremen Redoubt was discovered at the rear of the Zonnebeke brickworks. Opened to the public until 1998, it is believed that its eventual collapse was due to drying support timbers. During archaeological excavations of the Augustinian abbey, another dugout was discovered under Zonnebeke church. Today the outline of this dugout is marked in an archaeological garden within the church grounds, and a model of the church dugout can be seen at the "

Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 The Passchendaele Museum (until 2022 known as Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917) in Zonnebeke, Belgium, is a museum devoted to the Battle of Passchendaele in 1917 (also known as the Third Battle of Ypres). In this battle in only 100 days, ...

" in Zonnebeke. On February 21, 1998, a farmer's wife disappeared into the ground while washing the windows. Beecham dugout was subsequently discovered less than from Tyne Cot Cemetery. It was made public in spring 2006 that the brickworks had received a licence for the extension of its blue-clay extraction zone. The Association for Battlefield Archaeology and Conservation, using maps compiled of 350 underground structures under the management of Belgian archaeologist Johan Vandewalle and British TV producer Peter Barton, showed that at least one structure was near to the proposed development zone, believed to be the Vampire dugout, which had been rediscovered in 2007. Following discussion with local preservation, historic, council and state officials, the ABAC was allowed to start a scientific research project. They engaged the Centre for Battlefield Archaeology at

Glasgow University The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...

to provide archaeological support (in light of the residence of the Highland Light Infantry).

Towns

The municipality comprises the villages of Zonnebeke proper, , ,

and Zandvoorde. All are "

deelgemeente A (, literally ''sub-municipality''), or section (), is a subdivision of a municipality in Belgium and, until March 2014, in the Netherlands as well. Belgium Each municipality in Belgium that existed as a separate entity on 1 January 1961 bu ...

s", meaning they were independent municipalities before the merger in the 1970s. The municipality of Zonnebeke borders the following towns and municipalities: *a.

Moorslede Moorslede () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Dadizele, Slypskapelle and Moorslede proper. On 1 January 2006, Moorslede had a total popul ...

(municipality Moorslede) with village *b. (municipality Moorslede) *c. Geluwe (municipality Wervik) *d.

Wervik Wervik (; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Wervik and the town of Geluwe. On January 1, 2014, We ...

(municipality Wervik) with village *e. (municipality

Comines-Warneton Comines-Warneton (; ; ; ; ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It is contiguous with the identically named Comines on the other side of the border with France. On 1 January 2006 it had a total ...

) with village *f. (municipality Comines-Warneton) *g.

Hollebeke Hollebeke is a Flemish village in the Belgian province of West Flanders, now part of Ypres. History In World War I, it was the site of Allied heroism (like other neighbouring parts of Ypres, such as Klein Zillebeke) that won Khudadad Khan th ...

(municipality Ypres) *h.

Zillebeke Zillebeke (also known as Zellebeck) is a village in the Flemish province of West Flanders in Belgium. It is a former municipality which is now part of Ypres. History On 3 March 1914 the then municipality was granted the arms of the last Lord ...

(municipality Ypres) *i.

Ypres Ypres ( ; ; ; ; ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality comprises the city of Ypres/Ieper ...

(Ieper) (municipality Ypres) *j.

Langemark Langemark is a village in the Belgian province of West Flanders, 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 ...

(municipality Langemark-Poelkapelle) *k. Poelkapelle (municipality Langemark-Poelkapelle) *l.

Westrozebeke Gedenkteken Slag bij Westrozebeke

Westrozebeke is a ...

(municipality Staden) *m. Oostnieuwkerke (municipality Staden) *n.

Roeselare Roeselare (; ; ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Roeselare proper and the towns of Beveren, Oekene and Rumbeke. The name of the city is derived from two ...

(municipality Roeselare)

Gallery

File:Memorial Muse Passchendaele batiment.JPG, The

File:Photo from Memorial Museum Passchendaele.jpg, Memorial Museum Passchendaele, 1917 interior File:Zonnebeke - Buttes New British Cemetery 1.jpg, Memorial in the Polygon Wood, Zonnebeke File:William Orpen - Zonnebeke - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Zonnebeke'' (1918), painting by

William Orpen Major (United Kingdom), Major Sir William Newenham Montague Orpen, (27 November 1878 – 29 September 1931) was an Irish artist who mainly worked in London. Orpen was a fine draughtsman and a popular, commercially successful painter of portrai ...

, showing devastation after World War I

References

External links

* - Information available in

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

and limited information available in English, French and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...