War memorials

Belgium: Monument to King Albert, Nieuport

Architect: Julian de Ridder
Location: Nieuport, West-Vlaanderen

Adjacent to the Memorial to the Missing at Nieuport is the Monument to King Albert which was erected in 1937-38 above the canal sluices at the mouth of the Yser at the initiative of associations of Belgian veterans of the Great War. A circular colonnade of special textured brick square piers surrounds a bronze equestrian statue of the King of the Belgians, who had died in 1934 and who had been the active symbol of Belgian resistance and continuing independence during the Great War. The architect was Julian De Ridder, the sculptor Karel Aubroeck. The monument was severely damaged during the Second World War and restored in 1973-74.

Gavin Stamp