German mausoleum

During World War I, Leffinge was not directly in the line of fire but was occupied by German troops. The soldiers came there to rest from the front.
Many fallen soldiers were also brought to Leffinge and buried around the church in the existing cemetery. When that became too small, the German military established a new military cemetery a little further down in Dorpsstraat. 

As a central building on the new cemetery, a mortuary was built in 1915 by German soldiers, designed by Hauptmann Löwenstein.
It became a low brick building, equipped with stained-glass windows and a Christ head. Inside, there were lists of names of the fallen, stone floor tiles, and a central altar. 

After the war, the military cemetery was transformed into a civilian cemetery, and the cemetery around the church disappeared. 

Toerisme Middelkerke