Fancy a stroll through a forest where time seems to stand still? Head for southern Belgium, just under 200 kilometers from Brussels, where you’ll find an intriguing graveyard of cars from another decade. Now obliterated by nature and man, these wrecks form the strangest reminder of the war in Belgium.
Indeed, it’s hard to imagine that one of the world’s largest car cemeteries once existed just around the bend in a Walloon path. It was called the Châtillon automobile cemetery, an almost unreal place just two hours’ drive from our capital. Here, in the heart of a small forest in the south of the country, nearly 500 vehicles once lay abandoned in the silence of the trees.
The Châtillon car cemetery, between legend and reality
So many questions come to mind when we think of this cemetery of abandoned cars. Who could have forgotten so many mechanical treasures that would have delighted collectors? The story goes back to the Second World War. These cars were said to have belonged to American soldiers stationed in the region. How did they get their hands on these rare models, some of them European, in the middle of the war? A mystery. Even back then, these cars were the stuff of continental dreams.
When the war ended, the troops were recalled to the United States. It would have cost a fortune to bring the cars back to the States. So the officers took the radical step of leaving their precious automobiles behind. One by one, the cars were driven into the forest, carefully parked on a hill, as if their owners would return the next day… A field of metal flowers – a far cry from the beautiful blue hyacinths of Bois de Hal – bloomed in the forest near Châtillon.
While this story appeals to most people, others claim that this cemetery of a different kind was merely the remains of an old junkyard… Far less romantic than the American legend.
A vestige of the past that has completely disappeared
Over the years, moss has covered the hoods and trunks have entwined the chassis. After the war, four similar sites existed around Châtillon, but the most famous contained several hundred vehicles: Cadillacs, Buicks, Fords… all frozen in time. Alas, the 2000s took their toll on this otherworldly setting. A victim of erosion, theft and an environmental decision, the car graveyard was completely emptied in 2010. All that remained was a single site, and barely 200 cars.
Fortunately, to admire these wrecks we still have the photos of urban explorers who immortalized this place before its total disappearance. Under the leaves of southern Wallonia, the ghost of the Châtillon cemetery still haunts memories and images… And if you like this kind of walk, we invite you to discover this disused cemetery south of Brussels, where nature has completely reclaimed its rights and where the tomb of Belgium’s most famous comic strip artist is located.