Historical information:
About 2,500 years ago, a Celtic community belonging to the Hallstatt culture settled on the Kemmelberg. The Celts built a fortress and maintained a trading relationship with the Romans.
During the First World War, the Kemmelberg was a strategic point and was heavily fought over by the warring parties. During the spring offensive of 1918, German troops under General Friedrich Bertram Sixt von Armin took possession of the Kemmelberg on April 25. The next day a French counterattack took place, but the German troops advanced as far as the Dikkebusvijver. On April 29, the German advance was halted and the fighting continued until the end of July 1918. On September 5, the Kemmelberg was recaptured by the Allied troops with the help of the Americans. After the fighting, the hill was bare and was replanted with deciduous tree species.
Archaeological excavations were carried out from the 1960s onwards.
On the western flank there is a French mass grave containing the remains of more than 5,000 French soldiers who died in the First World War. At the top is a memorial column, the Monument Aux Soldats Français, erected in 1932 and inaugurated by General Lacappelle. The column is 17 meters high and depicts the Roman goddess of victory Victoria. The monument is called "Monument Aux Soldats Francais" and is popularly called "The Angel". The column was originally 18 meters high, on top of the column was a laurel wreath with a French soldier's helmet on top, which disappeared after a lightning strike in the 1970s.
On the southern edge is the Kemmel command bunker, a former Cold War command bunker of the Belgian army, which has been used as a war museum since the end of October 2009.