War bunker Zeedijkweg - Loppem

This German bunker was built during the First World War at the Pionierpark in Loppem.

A Pionierpark was a depot of the German engineer troops ( Pioniere ) where raw materials and materials were stored for the front and for scaffolding construction. Pioneer parks were organized according to the hierarchical organization of the army ( Armee , Gruppe , Division , Regiment ,…). From these engineer parks, the materials and raw materials were gradually further distributed to the front.

In the course of 1917-1918, a Pioneer Park was constructed between the Bruges-Kortrijk railway and Zeedijkweg. To the west of Zeedijkweg, an ammunition depot was set up, with small storage depots laid out at regular intervals. The supply and removal of equipment and ammunition could be realized by doubling and branching off the railway. A Kleinbahn (one-meter track) coming from Oostkamp had to cross the railway line. For this, the Kerkebeek had to be straightened over a distance of one hundred meters. The existing unloading quay in the station had to be expanded.

Loppem was about twenty kilometers from the front on the Yser and from the coastal front. The region was out of range of the enemy artillery and could thus fulfill an important logistic role in the German hinterland. Additional trump cards were the Bruges-Kortrijk railway and the Bruges-Leke tram line.

400 meters south of this bunker is a second concrete construction.

Willem Vandenameele