Langemark-Poel Chapel

Langemark-Poel Chapel
Langemark-Poel Chapel
State :	Belgium
Region :	Flanders
Province :	West Flanders
District :	Ypres
Coordinates :	50 ° 55 '  N , 2 ° 55'  E Coordinates: 50 ° 55 '  N , 2 ° 55'  E
Area :	52.53 km²
Residents:	7819 (Jan. 1, 2019)
Population density:	149 inhabitants per km²
Post Code:	8920
Prefix:	057
Mayor:	Alain Wyffels ( CD&V )
Local government address :	Gemeentehuis Kasteelstraat 1 8920 Langemark-Poelkapelle
Website:	www.langemark-poelkapelle.be

Langemark-Poelkapelle is a municipality in the arrondissement of Ypres in the Belgian province of West Flanders .

The community was formed in 1977 from the previous communities of Bikschote , Langemark (today the main town) and Poelkapelle .

Community structure

The community, with 7,819 inhabitants (January 1, 2019), comprises five districts. These are the three former parishes and the villages of Madonna and Sint-Juliaan, which belong to Langemark. The following table shows the area and population of the sub-municipalities for 1999. The numbers correspond to those on the card on the right; built-up areas in yellow.

Districts of Langemark-Poelkapelle

St. Julien (Sint-Juliaan) in the winter of 1915/16

Saint Julien Memorial (1923) for Canadian soldiers killed in the first gas strikes on April 22nd and 24th, 1915

#	Surname	surface	Population (1999)
I   (IV) (V)	Langemark - Langemark - Madonna - Sint-Juliaan	31.67	5,084
II	Poel Chapel	15.29	1.965
III	Bikschote	5.57	575

Source: Streekplatform Westhoek

history

During the First World War , Langemark-Poelkapelle was the scene of heavy fighting between German and Allied troops.

In the first Battle of Flanders , Langemark became the eponymous place for the " Myth of Langemarck ". The battle itself took place in the area of ​​today's district of Bikschote and the district of Noordschote in the neighboring town of Lo-Reninge (on the upper map: e, top left).

During the second Battle of Flanders , the 35th German Pioneer Regiment carried out the first attack with poison gas on April 22, 1915 on the frontline between Bixschoote and Langemark. A total of 150 tons of chlorine gas were used after the blowing process. A 6 km wide, 600–900 m deep gas cloud formed, which drifted towards the French and Canadian troops near Sint-Juliaan. 35 minutes after the poison gas was blown off, the German infantry had gained 4 kilometers of terrain. At the end of the day, of the 15,000 soldiers attacked with war gas, 5,000 were reported dead and 5,000 captured, and 60 guns were captured.

The British war cemetery Poelkapelle British Cemetery and the German war cemetery Langemark commemorate the dead.

See also

• Langemark German War Cemetery
• Poelkapelle British Cemetery

swell

1. ↑ In the German Regimental histories of World War Bixschoote or Bixschote called
2. ↑ In the German Regimental histories of World War St. Julien called
3. ↑ Population volutie 1970–1999 op het niveau van de deelgemeenten in de Westhoek ( Memento from September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
4. ^ Margit Szöllösi-Janze: Fritz Haber 1868–1934: Eine Biographie , 1998, p. 329 f.
5. ^ Die Deutschen Gasmasken (1915–1918) / Les masques à gaz allemands (1915–1918) , accessed on January 26, 2015

Web links

Commons : Langemark-Poelkapelle  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Official website of the municipality of Langemark-Poelkapelle