Spread across 23 towns and municipalities, 10,000 visitors visited at least one bunker site on Sunday. Bunker Day is organised by the Atlantic Wall Raversyde Provincial Domain in collaboration with the Province of West Flanders. This was the 7th edition of the event. Members of the public were able to explore bunkers in Gistel, Bruges, Koksijde, De Panne and Bredene and many more places.
Bunker Day is a tremendous success: 10,000 visitors explore bunkers across the country
Colin Clapson
Published:
Bunker Day has the aim of introducing the public at large to our military heritage and the tangible history of warfare in an accessible way. During this event, bunkers and defensive structures that are normally closed or hidden from the public at large are open to visitors.
Bunkers from the First and Second World Wars including Adolf Hitler’s Atlantic Wall and the Cold War were on display. At 23 locations across Flanders, there were guided tours, re-enactments and demonstrations.
‘Bunker Day is a powerful event that bridges the gap between history and the present day, people and nature,’ explains Jurgen Vanlerberghe, member of the West Flanders provincial executive. ‘Bunkers and bunker sites tell stories of courage, survival and the human experience in times of conflict. Those stories clearly resonate.’
In Ostend, you could explore the historic bunkers of the Raversyde Atlantic Wall Provincial Domain and the Flanders Maritime Institute ’s storage bunker. In Lissewege (Bruges) you could admire the remains of the German railway battery in a polder meadow. Bunkers at the Sint-Kruis Cemetery in Bruges were also open.
Some bunker sites are freely accessible at all times. At other locations, visitors had to register in advance in order to take part in a guided tour or a guided walk.
'An event like Bunker Day depends on the weather,' says Mathieu de Meyer, director of the Atlantikwall Raversyde provincial estate. 'We had the weather gods on our side today. Many activities were completely fully booked. Thanks to the lovely weather, the freely accessible bunker sites attracted a great many interested and curious visitors. Some people really make a full day of it and visit several sites.'
'We met people from Ostend in the Westhoek District, but also people from the East Coast in Antwerp. We still need to evaluate the event, but we will organise a new edition in two years’ time.’