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Photo: Bertvg, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The Yser Tower is the tallest peace memorial in Europe. The first Yser tower was built after World War I, to honour the Flemish soldiers who fell at the river Yser. The tower had a big meaning for those who wanted Flemish independence. After World War II, the first tower was dynamited, as a payback for the many Flemish who collaborated with the Germans. The remains of the first tower are still visible on top the Pax gate (the entrance gate to the site). After World War II, the tower was rebuilt, and now remembers both wars. The top of the tower contains the initials AVV-VVK, written in a cross. This stands for "All For Flanders, Flanders For Christ", symbolising the meaning of the tower for the Flemish. The four sides of the tower show the sentence "No more war" in the languages of the four fighting sides: Dutch, English, French and German. You can visit the tower, inside it, there's a museum about both world wars, and about the call for Flemish independence and the relation with the wars. At the top of the tower, you get a nice panoramic view over the very flat region.
The Yser Towers are a monument complex near the Yser river at Diksmuide, West Flanders in Belgium. The first tower was built in 1928–30 to commemorate the Belgian soldiers killed on the surrounding Yser Front during World War I and as a monument to Christian pacifism. It subsequently became an important political symbol for the Flemish Movement and was destroyed in 1946 as a result of its association with Flemish nationalist collaboration in German-occupied Belgium in World War II. The current tower was rebuilt alongside the remains of the original and copied its design. It was finished in 1965. It remains a site of political significance to Flemish nationalists and is the center for their annual Yser Pilgrimage (IJzerbedevaart).
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Belgian families were allowed to choose, whether they wanted their son to be buried on the battlefield, or at their home. Many people chose the grave near their home, resulting in the rather low amount of Belgian graves. This is the biggest remaining Belgian cemetery.