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Help save the First World War observation post in Ramskapelle (Nieuwpoort, Belgium)

Help save the First World War observation post in Ramskapelle (Nieuwpoort, Belgium)

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This petition has been created by Dominiek D. and may not represent the views of the Avaaz community.
Dominiek D.
started this petition to
the City of Nieuwpoort and the Flemish Government
The Flemish government recently decided to take the observation post in Ramskapelle (Nieuwpoort) from their list of ‘protected monuments’, and to allow its demolition.
However, this tower is an exceptional and absolutely unique relic from the First World War:

- Along the former Western Front it is the o nly remaining observation post in a factory chimney . The few other preserved observation posts are from a different character.
- It is the only observation post in Flanders that has been used by the three Allied armies : built by the Belgian army and reinforced by the British armies, it was used by the Belgian, French and British armies during the First World War. This makes it not only a rare witness to the British presence at Nieuwpoort, but also to the Allied solidarity of the time.
- Moreover, the site again p layed a role during the reconstruction of western Flanders after the First World War. It is this reconstruction that defines the face of the villages and towns on this area, including Nieuwpoort, until this day.

The argument put forward by the Flemish minister for heritage was among others that "there is no longer sufficient support" for the classification of the chimney as a listed monument. However, the recent centenary of the First World War showed the great importance of this heritage for local tourism, for regional and national identities and for cultural perceptions of that war.

With this petition, the signatories object to the declassification of the observation tower in Ramskapelle as a listed monument, and call upon the Flemish government and the city of Nieuwpoort to take their responsibility financially and socially in order to preserve this unique witness of the First World War for the next generations.  

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Posted (Updated )