Bayernwald

Please note! If you want to visit Bayernwald, you first need to buy tickets from the Heuvelland Tourist Office (VVV) in Kemmel (Sint-Laurentsplein 1).

Bayernwald (Bavaria Wood) is a reconstruction of a number of trenches in what originally known by local people as Croonaert Wood. In November 1914 this wood was captured by Bavarian troops and their pioneer companies soon turned this high ground into a near-impregnable fortress, complete with trenches, bunkers and underground tunnels.

Even so, after March 1916 the Germans became increasingly nervous: the British exploded three mines at nearby Sint-Elooi, operated at a level that the Germans had previously thought impossible.

After the war, the wood reverted to private ownership. In 1971 one of the old tunnel entrances was rediscovered by chance. This prompted the then owner to open the site to tourists. He dug his own trenches and exhibited a display of wartime memorabilia acquired from elsewhere. The site became popular and in 1998 it was decided to restore it in a more historically and archeologically correct manner. About 10% of the original trench system was accurately reconstructed.

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