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,, Bikschote and Saint-Julien/Sint-Juliaan.
Written as Langemarck on French, British and German maps, the village is known in military history as the scene 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, 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 published the following communiqué:
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, 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.

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