The Passchendaele Museum closed its doors early on 20 November 2023 to carry out planned renovations. The museum welcomed as many as 101,981 visitors last season. An excellent result, exceeding the target number of visitors of 90,000. From 1 February 2024, it will reopen its doors with a brand new immersive experience and temporary exhibition.
More than 100,000 visitors
In 2023, the Passchendaele Museum was open from 1 February to 19 November. Despite the shorter opening period, the museum still recorded excellent visitor figures. As many as 101,981 visitors stopped by to discover the story of World War I and the Battle of Passchendaele. Besides the permanent collection, it was also possible to visit the temporary exhibition ‘Reflection Points – War Dead in the Chateau Grounds’.
“The Passchendaele Museum clearly remains a player valued by local residents of Zonnebeke as well as international visitors. That the museum was able to welcome more visitors than anticipated is a great recognition of all the efforts made by the team,” said Joachim Jonkcheere, chairman of the Passchendaele Museum. “It gives us all extra motivation to continue investing in the museum experience and telling the story of the Battle of Passchendaele. The novelties in 2024 already give a good reason to come back,” Joachim continued.
New immersive experience ‘Passchendaele 1917’
From 1 February 2024, the Passchendaele Museum, with the support of the Province of West Flanders, will open an immersive space. The new immersive experience serves as an introduction to the Battle of Passchendaele. Through powerful visualisations, customized music and metres-high projected historical images, the battle is chronologically brought and explained to the visitor. It will be a total experience where young and old are fully immersed in the story and landscape of 1917.
New temporary exhibition ‘Echoes of War’
In addition, the temporary exhibition ‘Echoes of War’ will be opened as part of Tourism Flanders and Westtoer’s WWI-themed year Landscapes | Feel Flanders Fields. It focuses on the role of the landscape as witness and bearer of war stories. In this exhibition, visitors are taken through the history of the landscape. Through personal stories, they follow the journey of an ordinary soldier. ‘Echoes of War’ should encourage visitors to better understand and discover the historical meaning of the landscape and to discover it after their visit to the museum.
