Museum at the Yser

The ‘Iron Tower’ is well known for its tale of the Belgian-German front, the occupation of Belgium during World War I (the Great War), and the Flemish struggle for cultural independence. It is a monument bearing a near physical burden of its past. The quite radical theme ‘What remains of life, what remains of the land’ was selected to connect various story lines throughout the exhibition. This narrative confronts a simplified version of war history of nations, people and leaders within Europe with very concrete storytelling, happening at the margins of the great war, making it very real and almost touchable: unexpected perspectives, personal and regional stories, historic facts little known to the public. The theme of national identity was analysed on ‘Windows on national identity’, linking war history with the present.