Diskmuide - IJser Gate

The IJserlaan leads a short distance out of the town to the IJser gate memorial, clearly visible on the left bank of the river. The 84m/275ft-high memorial commemorates the 40,000 Flemish soldiers killed during the First World War. At the same time it is a peace memorial with its appeal "No more war". It also symbolizes the pride of the Flemish people who made up nearly 90% of the ordinary soldiers in the First World War and had to bear the brunt of the fighting. Today many Flemish still see the letters A.V.V. and V.V.K. (Alles voor Vlaanderen and Vlaanderen voor Kristus) inscribed on the memorial as a symbol of resistance and the struggle against the cultural and linguistic domination of the Walloons at the beginning of this century, which also finds expression in the added French inscription "Et pour les Flamands la même chose". There is an annual remembrance service every August at the foot of the memorial which in recent years has been accompanied by right-wing extremist marches. The first memorial, erected in 1928, was blown up by unknown persons with only the Paxpoort (peace gate) remaining. The present tower was completed in 1965. The first floor houses a commemorative museum; from the tower there are far-reaching views over the Flemish battlefields.