Air raid shelter 'den abri'

Did you know that there is an air raid shelter under the parking lot of the Administrative Center? The air raid shelter was built in 1942 by a certain Steppe from Liedekerke on behalf of the German occupiers. The bomb shelter was intended as a shelter for the municipal staff against the Allied bombing. The entrance to the bomb shelter was located in about the same place as now, along the side of the later burned down town hall.

A second entrance could be found in the mayor's office with a trapdoor and a staircase that is located in front of the stairs of the current town hall. This entrance was about 25 meters long and had a reinforced concrete roof about one meter thick. All doors were fitted with rubber seals to provide protection in the event of a gas attack.

In the bomb shelter you could find a Red Cross volunteer post, founded by Doctor Cochez. There were also toilets and showers. The showers were intended to disinfect people exposed to gas. In the basement there was also a bicycle with a dynamo to supply the basement with power should this fail and a well in case you had to shelter there for a long time.

Toerisme Denderleeuw