Bayernwald, First World War trench site and open-air museum in Heuvelland, Belgium
Bayernwald is a reconstructed First World War trench position in the Croonaertbos near Wijtschate. Its winding trenches are lined with pale sandbags and walls of thin woven branches, and four concrete bunkers with an interior height of 1.2 metres survive. The restored section also includes 320 metres of trenches and two mine listening shafts about 25 metres deep.
The hill was taken in 1914 during the First Battle of Flanders after heavy fighting between French and German troops. German units then dug the position out over four years of trench warfare, with fire and communication trenches and ten bunkers just 1.2 m high inside. It was named after Rupprecht von Bayern, their commander in that first battle. In June 1917 the nearby Güntherstellung was blown by mines and Allied troops overran Bayernwald.
Visitors can understand how soldiers lived and worked during the First World War by walking through the trenches themselves. The site reveals the daily experiences and hardships that troops faced in this location during the conflict.
The site is easy to walk through and requires only normal clothing and sturdy shoes for stability on uneven ground. Plan for at least two hours to explore all areas and navigate the underground passages at a comfortable pace.
Around 20-metre-deep listening shafts were sunk at Bayernwald to detect British tunnellers digging mines toward the German lines. The site also keeps two restored mine shafts about 25 metres deep, while the water-filled craters of the 7 June 1917 explosions at the Güntherstellung, some 800 metres southwest, remain visible.
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