The College of Europe organizes annual student visits to the battlefields of the First World War in Flanders. This contributes to perpetuating the memory of the war, to raising College of Europe students' interest in the conflict and sensitizing them to the experience of those who fought, and of the local population.
On Wednesday, 19 September 2018, students, representing 49 different nationalities, undertook a study trip "In Flanders Fields" in the Ypres area, where they visited the Tyne Cot cemetery, the Hill 60 battlefield and Caterpillar crater 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.
Wreath: Maxime BIGOT (FR), Susanna GARSIDE (GB), Julia REISCHLE (DE), Samuel COLIN (FR).
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 to our students, 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.