King Albert I memorial, War memorial in Nieuwpoort, Belgium.

The King Albert I memorial is a circular structure in Nieuwpoort where visitors walk around a central courtyard containing an equestrian statue of the king. Ten brick columns rise from the ground, creating an open ring that frames views across the flat landscape of the Yser Plain and toward the North Sea coast.

Built in 1938, the memorial honors King Albert I and Belgian forces who held the Yser Front during the First World War, a crucial defensive line against German advances. This location marked the boundary where Belgian resistance helped stabilize the wider allied position in the region.

The memorial's name changed to Westfront Nieuwpoort when it reopened on 18 October 2014 after restoration and expansion. The visitors' centre, designed by the Antwerp architects' workshop, holds a permanent exhibition on the 1914 flooding of the Yser plain, carried out by opening the Ganzepoot sluices. The site was visited by heads of state and government on 28 October 2014, among them King Philippe and German chancellor Angela Merkel.

Visitors walk freely around the circular structure and enjoy sweeping views across the surrounding landscape and sea as they go. The site is best visited on clear days when visibility extends far across the plains toward the coast.

The Bastien panorama is not in the courtyard but in the basement of the visitor centre: a downsized digital version of the 115-metre-long, 14-metre-high original, painted 1920-1921 after the artist had documented the front in 1915. The canvas was cut into nine pieces and rolled up in 1982; the army museum chose a digital reproduction over a costly restoration.