It was at this spot that one of the biggest cannons in the German Army once stood: the Long Max. The gun was actually manufactured for use on a battleship. It measured 17 metres long and weighed 75 tons. Each shell weighed 750 kilograms. It was the German admiral Max Rogge who first suggested using the gun on land - and so it was named after him.
From June 1917 it was employed to bombard the French port of Dunkirk. The shells took over one-and-a-half minutes to reach their target. Each shot was observed from the Belgian trenches, so that a warning could be telephoned through to those in danger on the ground. Even so, the gun still killed 114 people, most of them in Dunkirk, but also in Koksijde, Nieuwpoort and Bergues.
In 1941 the cannon was dismantled by the occupying German forces, because they needed the metal for the Second World War. A modern museum tells the story of Long Max and of the German Marine Corps in Flanders.
Copyright: Creative Commons
Clevenstraat 2, Koekelare
Discover the most beautiful and popular trails in the area, carefully bundled into appropriate selections.
Discover the most beautiful and popular attractions in the area, carefully bundled in appropriate selections.
With RouteYou, it's easy to create your own customised maps. Simply plot your route, add waypoints or nodes, add places of interest and places to eat and drink, and then easily share it with your family and friends.
Route planner
<iframe src="https://plugin.routeyou.com/poiviewer/free/?language=en&params.poi.id=747670" width="100%" height="600" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Try this feature for free with a RouteYou Plus trial subscription.
If you already have such an account, then log in now.
More than 8,500,000 routes
More than 15,000,000 users
More than 4,200,000 points of interest
Kerkstraat 108
9050 Gentbrugge, Belgium
© 2006-2024 RouteYou - www.routeyou.com
Koekelare
| | Public | 
