New Peace Carillon

In my home town Leuven, we celebrated the 100-year end of World War I today by inaugurating a new Peace Carillon in the church tower of the Park Abbey. You need to know three things to understand why this is so important.

First, my home town Leuven was particularly hit by the violence of World War I, when a large part of town was put to fire and a lot of civilians were killed. The inauguration of the new carillon was supported by the German town of Neuss from where some of the troops had originated and with which Leuven now established good relations.

You also need to know that Park Abbey is one of the best preserved original abbey sites of its kind in the Benelux and in Europe. And like with many historic places, its history is deeply interwoven with the lives and the hearts of many local people. And you need to know that carillons belong to the nicest and finest pieces of heritage Flanders has to offer.

What is amazing on this 11 November 2018, is the incredible mobilising force from the centennial celebrations of the armistice. Most people who walked through the rain today never went through a war in their lives. I guess we all realised that our togetherness today is the best way to make clear why we want peace in this world.