Museum Aan de IJzer
Museum Aan de IJzer
4.5
Speciality MuseumsObservation Decks & TowersHistory Museums
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Monday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
About
The MUSEUM AT THE YSER is a museum with a message. This message is PEACE, FREEDOM AND TOLERANCE and the idea that violence never brings peace. The museum has 22 floors. Entrance Fees Per person € 8,00 ; CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE Younger than 7 free ; 7-17 year € 4 The Museum at the Yser (the Yser Tower) is open daily January - February - March - October - November - December: from 9.00 to 17.00 (Sat., Sun-. and Bank Holidays: from 10.00 to 17.00) April - May - June - July - August - September: from 9.00 to 18.00 (Sat., Sun. and Bank Holidays: from 10.00 to 18.00) Closed on 24/25/26/31 December , on 01/02 January + 3 weeks after the Christmas holidays. => The domain is accessible up to 1 hour before closing time. => Dogs are not allowed (except guide dogs).
Duration: 1-2 hours
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles367 reviews
Excellent
196
Very good
134
Average
25
Poor
7
Terrible
5

dei travels
Orillia, Canada138 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2019 • Solo
Big sign outside. Very large trench system with little bunkers. Small museum inside. Very cheap price to see BUT they want you to use credit card. No cash. Self tour. You can walk along way. BUT mostly just trenches.
Written April 12, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dear Dey T Thanks for this review ... but as i read your feedback, you are talking about 'the trenches of death'. The Museum on the Yser, is the Ysertower with a 22 floor museum inside . I hope to welcome you in our museum! Kind regards Team Museum aan de IJzer
Written July 7, 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

TeamWard
Nottingham, UK5,177 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2019 • Friends
As we travelled to visit the Trench of Death only a short distance away we spotted the Yser tower (thanks google), had a short visit on our way back to appreciate this great memorial.
Written May 27, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Rhonda B
Scipio, UT23 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2018 • Couples
We originally planned to spend an hour here as I had not thoroughly researched the site. Upon arrival at 2:00 we ended up staying until closing - a total of 4 hours which was definitely not a regret. The place was phenominal for history information and relics.
The only tip we would have is making sure you understand that the museum covers many floors. We were directed to the top of the tower first (which we loved the views and information on the plackards). The museum staff at the door did not speak English and did not provide instructions of even a pamphlet. If my husband had not stumbled on the stairway to one of the many diverse historical floors, we would have left and been somewhat disappointed. Another reviewer commented on the comparison of this musuem and Flanders Fields museum. IF I were pressed for time, I would definitely choose this museum since the other is layed out well and has a lot of historical information. I like to see the items collected historically and this museum will not disappoint in that regard.
Written April 11, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dear Rhonda B Thank you for your feedback. It pleases us a lot to read that you enjoyed your visit at our museum. We would like to welcome you again some time. Kind regards
Written June 16, 2018
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

BentNB
Copenhagen, Denmark56 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2016 • Couples
The Ijzer Museum is a very good local museum with a nice and balanced story telling about first world war. It is not at level with the museum in Ypres but it is indeed very good and showed a lot of things we had not seen before in spite of many museum visits in Belgium. Excellent posters from the first world war. Excellent small cartoons and videos illustrating the war with a sense of humor. All the way through the exhibition national identity was a theme discussed in a balanced an enlightening manner. When entering the museum you have passed through a path with fine arts installations, and you are guided to take the elevator to the 22nd floor for a grand view of the very flat region.

You go through the museum by walking down floor by floor, taking a round on each floor looking at the exhibited things. From floor 22 till floor 4 or 5 the exhibition is professionally done and with a nuanced story telling kept in Flemish, French, English and German..

However, when nearing the bottom it all changes character and nearly all is kept in Flemish language. And here we are in the section that has kept us away so many times. The tower is built in a very special, almost authoritarian way. On top of the tower the six letters AVV - VVK (Alles vor Vlandern - Flanders vor Krist or Everything for Vlandern and Vlanders for Christ). AVV-VVK developed after first world war as a fascist nationalistic party that wanted to separate Vlandern from the French speaking parts of Belgium - Brussels and Wallonia. Parts of the pary and movement supported the Nazists during second world war in an attempt to gain freedom from Belgium. And the tower in which the museum is placed was raised by these people on memorial stones for soldiers that had fallen for Vlandern in a protest against the Belgian state that had used the French language on memorial stones for soldiers fallen for Belgium.

Back to the museum - on the four or five last floors on your way down the standards of the museum drops, and everything is in Flamish, so you tend to believe that it is the club house for the Flemish nationalists. The story of this movement is of course highly relevant because it still is an important factor in splitting the Belgian state, but it is a bit depressing that the professional museum people had to give in in the end.

Nevertheless the 18 out of 22 floors make this museum really worth visiting.
Written August 14, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

ManuelaC
Ieper (Ypres), Belgium31 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2016 • Friends
Worthwile to visit. History . And reality mix. Also beautiful area. Reminds us that war is good for nothing.
Written August 4, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

ManuelaC
Ieper (Ypres), Belgium31 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2016 • Friends
Good inside museum . Learned quite a lot 22 stories up and the vieuw from the top of the tower sweet . Will definately take friends here if they wish to learn about the area.
Written August 4, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Andy L
Redditch, UK121 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2015 • Couples
During our trip to this part of Belgium we saw some very moving things - this just wasn't one of them..I am 100% sure from other reviews some will disagree but in my opinion it could have been so much more.
The tower itself is indeed impressive and the view from the top is fantastic but the 22 floors of exhibits just didn't do anything for me.
It never gave me any sense of what the tower was trying to achieve and I came out very confused.
If you are in the area then I am sure you will go but don't be surprised if it isn't what you expected although I am not sure what I expected.

Andy.
Written September 8, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Phil R
Leeds, UK63 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2014 • Friends
We have passed through the picturesque town of Dixmude on several ocassions and had wrongly assumed that the 84 metre high memorial/tower was perhaps a water tower - how wrong we were!! This second generation Ysertower on the edge of Dixmude and very close to the bustling river/canal was originally built following the end of WW1 and in memory of the the Flemish people and way of life. Unfortunately the original Tower was destroyed during WW2 and rebuilt some years later.
The Pax-tower, the Crypt and the Ysertower all form the European Peacedomain and the view from the 22nd floor which is reached by lift gives an excellent idea of the life of the soldiers and how flat the countryside is for miles around.
Having reached the observation tower and taken in the views visitors can then walk down the easily manageable stairs and visit the differing museums of WW1 on each floor as one descends the stairs. You should allow several hours in order fully understand all the history of WW1 in this area and how the Belgian people fought off the approach of the German army.
Well worth a visit for anybody interested in the history of WW1 and how the country of Belgium, and this area in particular was affected.
Written August 6, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Janet H
Hemel Hempstead, UK110 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2013 • Family
Literally an overview of the area from a tall and very ugly tower. The information about WW1 in this area (largely belgian soldiers were fighting here) was interesting, but the main emphasis of the exhibits seemed to be to show how the Flemish people in Belgium were mistreated by the French group, and to promote Flemish rights. This may be a real issue still in Belgium, but it seemed somehow to counter the expressed objective of the place which was to promote peace. I left rather confused.
Written August 25, 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Jozef O
Brussels, Belgium192 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2021
It had been probably more than 40 years since I last visited this national Flemish monument. The tower itself is an impressive sight and offers great views from the top. The nearby remains of the first tower (blown up in an act of state-vandalism) and the grave-stones and crypt are worthwhile too;
The tower also has a museum, spread out over its many floors, and dedicated to the memory of the First World War along the Yser and to the history of the Flemish national and pacifist movements that grew out of this experience. As a museum of the WWI front experience this is very good and informative. The side of the museum dealing with the history of the Flemish national movement that grew out of this WWI experience (and of the yearly pilgrimages for which the tower was built) is generally good but has become somewhat muted and watered-down as a result of the internal political bickering in the Flemish movement over the last decades. The effects of a certain political correctness are noticable but overall it is still an interesting presentation (although I am not sure a foreign visitor will understand from this what the Flemish national movement is all; about). Throughout the museum a certain anti-militarist and pacifist tone is noticable, which is in keeping with this monument's legacy and origins.
Overall I was pretty impressed with how the museum uses the restricted space of the tower to present a very interesting panorama of the WWI experience. Definitely a must-visit if you are in Diksmuide.
Written August 23, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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Museum Aan de IJzer - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

Frequently Asked Questions about Museum Aan de IJzer

Museum Aan de IJzer is open:
  • Mon - Fri 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
  • Sat - Sun 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM


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