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 territory, Madonna, Bikschote and Saint-Julien/Sint-Juliaan.

For the article on the World War I cemetery, see Langemark German war cemetery.

Langemark, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium
Deelgemeente
Langemark, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium
Coordinates: 50°54′48″N 2°55′05″E
CountryBelgium
Province West Flanders
MunicipalityLangemark-Poelkapelle
Area
 • Total31.67 km2 (12.23 sq mi)
Population
 (1999)
 • Total5,084
 Source: NIS
Postal code
8920

Written as Langemarck on French, British and German maps, the village is known in military history as the scene (see trench map) of the first gas attacks by the German army in the western front, which marked the beginning of the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915.

Before and during the First Battle of Ypres, the German reserve corps suffered enormous losses: over 10,000 young soldiers (some only 15 years old), led by young officers without practical experience, died without achieving any objective. On 10 November 1914, about 2,000 soldiers died during an attempted breakthrough. One day later, the German Command (Oberste Heeresleitung) published the following communiqué:

Westlich Langemarck brachen junge Regimenter unter dem Gesange‚ Deutschland, Deutschland über alles‘ gegen die erste Linie der feindlichen Stellungen vor und nahmen sie. Etwa 2.000 Mann französischer Linieninfanterie wurden gefangengenommen und sechs Maschinengewehre erbeutet.
In west Langemarck, youth regiments singing Germany, Germany Above All advanced on front line enemy positions, broke and took them. Approximately 2,000 French line infantry and six machine guns were captured.

A popular and enduring myth of heroic self-sacrifice for the nation known as the "Mythos von Langemarck" arose from the propagandistic story. For this reason, the Flemish division of the Waffen-SS was named 27th SS Volunteer Division Langemarck.

The village was completely destroyed during World War I. There is now a major German war cemetery, the Langemark German war cemetery, (Soldatenfriedhof) in this location, which has about 40,000 burials.

Madonna's Pig

Madonna is a hamlet of Langemark with about 1000 inhabitants. The movie Madonna's Pig is set in this hamlet, although in reality the movie was shot in Houtem.

gollark: Yes, it was a wondrous place, except that you got owner temporarily due to a game which was just very bad.
gollark: Or yesterday, I forget.
gollark: No, they were here 2 days ago.
gollark: On the plus side, with how student loans work it's not precisely equivalent to actually spending it.
gollark: * several tens of thousands of £ possibly, although at least we're not America.

See also
  • 27th SS Volunteer Division Langemarck
  • Langemarck 1917
  • Saint Julien Memorial, to Canadian soldiers of World War I
  • Farm at Langemark
  • Fields at Langemark
  • Monument for the World War I soldiers from Canada. The Brooding Soldier in Langemark
  • The church in Langemark
  • Sacred hour at the monument of Langemarck (10 July 1932)
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