Royal Military Museum
The Royal Military Museum presents 12 centuries of military history - from medieval armour to the F-16 fighter plane - through a multitude of uniforms, weapons and heavy machinery, not to mention the 130 flying machines in the Aviation Hall.
Visit also the largest permanent exhibition in Belgium on the Second World War and the temporary exhibitions on specific themes!
The terraces at the top of the Cinquantenaire arcades also offer a splendid panoramic view of Brussels...
Bastogne Barracks
An incredible exhibition hall of Second World War vehicles and equipment!
Located to the north-east of the town in the direction of La Roche-en-Ardenne, Bastogne Barracks offers a wide range of tracked and wheeled vehicles, artillery and other equipment relating to the Second World War, both Allied and Axis, in its vast 2350m² exhibition hall and outside.
Command Bunker Kemmel
In the early 1950s, at the height of the Cold War, Belgium, France, Great Britain, Luxemburg and the Netherlands built a coordination bunker for the air defence of Western Europe, as part of the Brussels Pact. When the bunker was finally ready, the newly created NATO set up its own air defence and the Kemmel bunker was became redundant. It was not until 1963 that the Supreme Command of the Belgian Armed Forces decided to use the bunker as a headquarters in case of war, conflict or exercise.
A visit to the bunker is a fascinating experience. For more than 90 minutes, you will explore the entrails of the Kemmelberg: a site full of secret missions, invisible enemies and an omnipresent tension that leaves no one indifferent. Just walking through the "Operations Room" - the bunker’s beating heart- is an impressive experience.
Fort Breendonk
The National Memorial of Fort Breendonk is one of the best-preserved testimonials of the Second World War Nazi atrocities.
A captivating visit highlights the sinister page in history that the SS-Auffanglager Breendonk truly is. From the gloomy dormitories and forced labour sites to the torture chamber and the execution ground: the fort exudes the horror the prisoners were subjected to during German occupation.
Through testimonials, pictures and film footage you meet the men and women who suffered and sacrificed their lives for our liberty.
The Trench of Death
The Trench of Death runs alongside the river Yser and was initially dug by the Belgian army in 1915 as an approach trench towards the German positions. The Germans did the same on their side. After a period of heavy fighting the Belgians made a breach into the Yser dyke, which led to both camps separated by only a narrow strip of water.
Both camps fortified their positions with concrete bunkers, trenches and firing posts. This dangerous stalemate remained for three long years. The Belgian position and an advanced German bunker have been preserved to this day. They provide a unique insight into daily life at the front. The story of Belgians and Germans is also told in the visitor centre by means of interactive applications, photographs, film footage and more than one hundred original artefacts.
During the First World War, the Trench of Death was hell on the Yser Front, today it is a poignant reminder of those times, striking a chord with each and every visitor!