The Paderborn Faculty of Arts and Humanities regularly offers its students the opportunity to deepen their understanding of history and the culture of remembrance - for example in the form of international excursions. 26 students from Paderborn University explored various places of remembrance of the First World War in Ypres, Belgium, under the guidance of Scot Bell and Felix Behler from the Department of English and American Studies in the winter semester 2023/24. As part of the former Western Front, the region offers a multifaceted view of the legacy of the war - from monuments and military cemeteries to commemorative rituals.
Staff from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) gave the students a valuable insight into the work of one of the world's largest heritage organisations. The CWGC is a UK government organisation responsible for the establishment and maintenance of British military cemeteries. The cooperation between the organisation and Paderborn University is to be further expanded in the future, for example in the form of student projects.
Reflecting on one's own historical awareness
Together with Dr Roel Timpermann, an employee of the CWGC, the group visited Tynecot, the world's largest British military cemetery. A visit to the important German military cemetery Langemark was also on the programme. The students laid a wreath at both sites to commemorate the fallen. The excursion participants also took part in the "Last Post Ceremony", a commemorative event that has been organised daily since July 1928, and visited the "In Flanders Fields Museum" and the private museum "Café de Dreve". The Faculty of Arts and Humanities and the Universitätsgesellschaft Paderborn provided financial support for the project.
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