In the 9th century, Ostend, then a hamlet, was situated at the eastern
end _(Oostende)_ of a sand-bar belonging to the powerful St. Bertin
Abbey of St. Omer. Incursions by the Normans and the ravages of the sea
had almost entirely annihilated it when, in the 9th century, Robert le
Frison built a chapel to Our Lady there, around which a new village
grew up. Thanks to the herring fisheries on the Flemish coast--a
flourishing industry in the Middle-Ages, but since abandoned--Ostend
grew and prospered. The construction of defence-works at the end of
the 16th century, by Guillaume-le-Taciturne, conferred on the town
the dangerous honour of becoming the last rampart of the Utrecht
Confederation against the Spaniards of the southern provinces, and
resulted in one of the longest and bloodiest sieges (1601-1603)
recorded in history. This three years' struggle cost one hundred
thousand lives and reduced the town to ruins.
Later, Ostend sustained further destructive sieges, e.g. by the
English, under Marlborough, in 1706; by the French under Marshal
Lowendhal in 1745. Meanwhile, and in the latter part of the 18th
century, various factors helped to restore the town's former
prosperity, i.e. the "Peace of Utrecht" (1713) which closed the
Escaut, thus paralysing Antwerp in favour of Ostend; and the wealthy
"Indian Company" founded there, but broken up ten years later for
political reasons. The "Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle" (1748) having ceded
the town to Austria, Joseph II caused the maritime installations to
be completed, and made it a free port, into which the belligerent
ships put during the American War. This revived prosperity was again
annihilated by revolution and the Napoleonic wars.
In the 19th century, Ostend discovered a new and fruitful source of
wealth in sea-bathing, and eventually developed into one of Europe's
premier seaside resorts.
Under the impulsion of Leopold II, who frequently resided there,
extensive works were carried out in the town and port at the beginning
of the present century. The channel was widened, the jetties rebuilt,
the port enlarged. A monumental bridge, the present maritime station,
and the church of St. Peter and Paul were built. The dike was
prolonged westwards and bordered with luxurious buildings. Parks and
public gardens were laid out. To the east, the Lighthouse Quarter was
transformed, and the Royal Road in the Dunes to Blankenberghe was made.
When, in August 1914, the Germans invaded Belgium, this "queen of
watering-places" offered a strangely moving sight until the middle
of October. British troops disembarked from the transports, marched
in long files through the streets, and encamped in the surroundings.
Refugees from all parts were temporarily housed in the bathing cabins.
"Zeppelins" and "Taubes" completed the terror and panic caused by the
approach of the invaders. The trains were crammed, and the maritime
station crowded with thousands of people seeking to get across to
Britain. The retirement of the Belgian Army along the littoral, after
the fall of Antwerp, marked the end of the season of 1914.
On October 14, the Germans occupied the town, from which the visitors
and part of the inhabitants had fled. Naval defences were organised,
the dike and dunes armed, while the palaces and villas along the dike,
the Kursaal, and other public buildings were occupied by the military
staffs. The town suffered severely from this occupation. British shells
and aeroplane bombs unavoidably increased the damage. The maritime
station, and a number of hotels and private residences in the central
and eastern districts were partly destroyed, while the glazed roof of
the Banqueting Hall of the Kursaal collapsed.
Many public buildings were transformed into Hospitals,
dressing-stations, and even stables. The furniture of the fine villas
along the sea-front was either sent to Germany or burnt as firewood.
The wine-cellars were emptied. Defilements, in accordance with Kultur's
best practice, went hand-in-hand with the destructions. Reconstruction
and cleansing will require much time and work. Yet, true to her past,
Ostend will rise again, more beautiful than ever, from her ruins.
[Illustration: _Itinerary for visiting Ostend (indicated by the thick
lines): The Chalet Royal, Kursaal, Leopold Park, Chaussée de Thourout,
Tirpitz Battery, Rue de Leffingue, Docks, Church of St. Peter and Paul,
Outer Harbour, Wooden Pier, Hôtel-de-Ville, Marie-Henriette Park (on
leaving), Napoleon Fort._]
[Illustration: Ostend Sands.
_Gneisenau Battery, in front of the Royal Palace Hôtel._]