Photographic inventory of Belgian cultural heritage
May 1917. Europe burns and bleeds and Belgian civilians have borne the brunt of the German occupation for almost three years. In these dire circumstances, the Governor General of occupied Belgium gives the go-ahead for an exceptional venture: a photographic inventory of Belgian heritage put together by the best German specialists. Its aim was to show that the Germans were not the hated barbarians guilty of bombing so many historic towns and cities in France and Belgium. Until the armistice, between 30 and 40 men and women - art historians, architects and photographers - produced over 100000 photographs, all on glass plate and to an extraordinary technical and aesthetic standard.
Unique collection
Le patrimoine de la Belgique vu par l’occupant. Un héritage photographique de la Grande Guerre presents a collection of unique photographs, using previously unseen archive documents to tell its story, from the genesis of the archive project to the present day.