The Leuven fire
The Leuven fire
The city of Leuven was burning on August 25th, 1914. German troops lighted the city on fire as retaliation for an alleged attack of snipers. The fire destroyed more than two thousand buildings and 248 citizens were killed.
The old university town - ‘the Oxford of Belgium’ - became world news. Especially the university library with its 300.000 books received a lot of attention. Views of the interior of the library before and after the fire travelled the world on postcards. After the war, the university was able to redeem international aid from all the solidarity and outrage.
Part of
De grote oorlog
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