Introduction

  • Karen D. Shelby
Chapter

Abstract

The first glimpse of the IJzertoren memorial in Diksmuide, Flanders is striking. It is the tallest structure in the area — almost in all of Flanders. It is also a giant cross and an unusual one at that. From afar it looks like an Irish High Cross, but executed within a pretty heavy-handed architectural style reminiscent of the modern Brutalist Movement of the 1950s. It looks cold and foreboding. The lines are severe, rigidly leading the visitor’s eye up toward the top-heavy cruciform shape. Placed against large windows of a viewing platform are affixed letters that form a Greek cross: AVV-VVK. For the non-Flemish visitor these letters mean little — although their placement and size, almost 73 meters (or 20 yards), suggest that they must mean something quite significant. For those familiar with the nineteenth century slogan Alles voor Vlaanderen-Vlaanderen voor Kristus (All for Flanders-Flanders for Christ), the iconic AVV-VVK atop a twenty-four story cruciform-shaped tower places the IJzertoren memorial squarely within the politics of Flemish nationalism — a Flemish nationalism underscored by a Catholic fervor for the martyrdom and sacrifice during the Great War of Flanders and the Flemish for recognition within the Kingdom of Belgium. As one moves through the memorial site, which includes a peace arch (the paxpoort), the ruins of an earlier version of the IJzertoren, and a crypt in which ten Flemish soldiers,1 known in particular nationalist circles as martyrs, are buried, the AVV-VVK is visible two times.

Keywords

Nineteenth Century Front Movement Visual Culture Flemish Region Memorial Site 
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Notes

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Copyright information

© Karen D. Shelby 2014

Authors and Affiliations

  • Karen D. Shelby
    • 1
  1. 1.Baruch CollegeThe City University of New YorkUSA

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