German mausoleum

Along the Dorpsstraat of Leffinge, there is a war cemetery that was established by the German occupier in 1915. However, in the 1950s, the graves were cleared and transferred to the cemetery in Vladslo. There, a sort of collective cemetery was created, with German graves brought from no less than 61 Belgian villages.
After the removal of the German graves, the graves from around the church of Leffinge were brought here. The Germans essentially designed a military cemetery here, which later became an ordinary cemetery. The buildings they designed were preserved. There is a modernist entrance building: in the center, the funeral procession entered, to the left is the pedestrian entrance, and to the right is the entrance for riders.
At the end of the cemetery, one finds a former mausoleum. It was designed in 1915 by Hauptmann Lowenstein. A mausoleum is an empty grave monument, this one was erected in honor of all German fallen soldiers of World War I.
Previously, the text "Niemand hat grossere Liebe denn die dass er sein Leben lasset für sein Brüder" was inscribed above the Christ's head on the frieze. However, this text has been removed.
Additionally, several wall openings in the back wall were bricked up, which negates the openness of the original design. Unfortunately, the stained glass windows depicting fallen soldiers also disappeared at this time. In order to avoid further degradation of the original appearance of this mausoleum, it was decided to protect the building as a monument so that it can be preserved for the future as a witness to World War I.

Toerisme Middelkerke