Kemmelberg

Kemmelberg-East
Elevation	156 m (512 ft)
Location	Heuvelland
Start	Kemmel
Altitude	122 m (400 ft)
Length	3,000 m (9,800 ft)
Average gradient	4 %
Maximum gradient	22 %

Kemmelberg-West
Elevation	156 m (512 ft)
Location	Heuvelland
Start	Kemmel
Altitude	109 m (358 ft)
Length	2,500 m (8,200 ft)
Average gradient	4.4 %
Maximum gradient	22 %

Kemmelberg-South
Elevation	156 m (512 ft)
Location	Heuvelland
Start	Kemmel
Altitude	109 m (358 ft)
Length	1,400 m (4,600 ft)
Average gradient	7.8 %
Maximum gradient	17 %

Kemmelberg (English: Kemmel Hill, French: Mont Kemmel) is a hill formation in Flanders, Belgium. It is located less than a kilometer from the village of Kemmel, part of the municipality of Heuvelland in West Flanders.

The earliest settlements on the Kemmelberg date back 2.500 years, when Celtic tribes of the Hallstatt culture populated the area. The hill takes its name from Camulos, the Celtic god of war.

During World War I, it was the location of one of the war's most ferocious battles. Because of its strategic importance, it was fiercely fought in the Fourth Battle of Ypres. On 25 April 1918, German imperial forces, hoping to force a breakthrough to the North Sea, started attacking the French troops on the Kemmelberg with gas grenades. At 6 a.m. the German Alpenkorps seized and captured the Kemmelberg, causing allied troops to withdraw from all the hills in the region. Thousands of French soldiers were slaughtered. Several streets and army barracks in Germany were named after this event (Kemmel-Privatweg in Magdeburg, Kemmelkaserne in Murnau). Friedrich Bertram Sixt von Armin and Prince Franz of Bavaria were commanders, but Karl Höfer was celebrated as hero of Kemmelberg - the Held vom Kemmelberge. It was recaptured during the Battle of the Peaks of Flanders in late September 1918, as a precursor to the Armistice of 11 November 1918.

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Wikipedia