No one will deny that the First World War cost the lives of many civilians - both residents and refugees - in Ypres: civilians are always and everywhere the first victims of war. The List of Names counts more than 700 civilian victims for Ypres. But in a commemorative landscape that is mainly coloured by the military, they are still not mentioned by name anywhere. With this project, the In Flanders Fields Museum wants to change this.

For the commemoration of the Ypres civilian victims, Amsterdam artist Jeroen Bisscheroux came up with a bronze key. Each one names a victim and adds the date of death and age. The keys are literally placed on the street, in places that remind of the death of the named victim. As a passer-by, you don't have to notice them; but if you do, the city reveals its wartime past in a flash.

The first keys were unveiled on Saturday 9 October 2021 by the Friends of the In Flanders Fields Museum. They held a remembrance for the five members of the Ameloot family who died after a shell attack on 12 November 1914.







Welcome by Gilbert Ossieur, chairman of the Friends of the In Flanders Fields Museum.







Further explanation on the project by experts of the In Flanders Fields Museum.







Picture of the house after the incident on 12/11/1914.





Wreaths were laid by the Ameloot family,





by the Friends





and by mayor Emmily Talpe on behalf of the City of Ieper.





The mayor then unveiled the first five keys.

















More information on the project 'Lost Keys' can be found on https://www.inflandersfields.be/en/kenniscentrum-e/herdenkingssleutels-e

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