Dalle-Dumon Park

This municipal park now contains a cultural centre with workshops, exhibition areas and a dance school. During the First World War, the 'White Chateau' on the French Hill - which you will soon notice if you stroll through the park - was used by the Germans for a field hospital. At that time the chateau was just four years old, having been built in 1910 for the textile magnate Charles Derville.

It was in this 'Feldlazarett' that the famous German artist Max Beckmann worked as a medical orderly. His stay here was only a short one, but he completed a series of frescoes for a new military bathhouse in Wervik before being invalided home in June 1915.

On 13 and 14 October 1918, during the Final Offensive, the Allies bombarded the chateau and its park with mustard gas shells. One of the gassed soldiers was a messenger, Gefreiter Adolf Hitler. It is possible that he was treated here, but not certain (it might also have been in Linselles). He was later sent for further treatment in Oudenaarde, before being repatriated to Germany.

The park also contains a memorial tower (dating from 1915) and chapel. The chapel is currently being used as a storage place for the equipment of an adventure organization, but the local authorities wish to restore both building to their former glory and purpose.

Vl. Toeristisch bezienswaardigheden