The Zwin

The nature reserve (1954), consists of the Zwinschorre and the actual nature reserve. It has 215 hectares on Belgian territory and 25 hectares in the Netherlands. The nature reserve (owned by the Flemish government) houses a bird park (owned by the province of West Flanders). Here is also the Royal villa, designed by architect Vierin. She was sold by the Compagnie Het Zoute to Princess Astrid in 1930. After the Second World War, the Company bought back the destroyed villa. At the entrance of the bird park is the bronze bust (by Sylvia Willincks) of Leon Graaf Lippens, initiator of Het Zwin.

Outside the bird park at the end of the Count Leon Lippensdreef are the four massive blocks of the German sculptor Ulrich Ruckriem. They depict the separation of beach and meadow. The nearby Kleine Vlakte was a former airfield, built by Count Maurice Lippens and leased to the Belgian state for thirty years. After the concession expired, the airport was abandoned.

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