The College has organised for several years student visits to the battlefields of the First World War in Flanders. This contributes to perpetuate the memory of the war and to make College of Europe students interested in the conflict and sensitive to the experience of those who fought and the population.
On Wednesday 17 September 2014, 340 students from the College of Europe (Bruges campus) representing 51 different nationalities undertook a study trip to “Flanders Fields” in the Ypres region where they visited Tyne Cot cemetery, the Hill 60 battlefield and the Bayernwald trench reconstruction. They also attended the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate Memorial. A wreath was placed by students representing both sides of the armed conflict of the first World War, and one of the students pronounced the Exhortation.
Rector Jörg MONAR wants the students to better understand the bloody conflicts that took place in this region which wiped out a generation of young people similar in age, with the hope that students will then better appreciate the peace and prosperity which is now possible through cooperation at a European and International level.
