Frans Van der Linden

Frans Van der Linden (6 June 1894 - 3 November 1918) was a Belgian soldier. He was involved in the  during World War I. He is considered one of the four so-called "Iron Symbols" of the Flemish Movement.

Born in Antwerp, Van der Linden was co-founder and chairman of the former student association De Vlaamse Telgen and later became member of the Flemish Guard.

At the start of the World War I Van der Linden volunteered. During the Battle of the Yser, he started a Flemish study group and became the leader of the  (Front Movement) in the 3rd Carabinier Regiment. When the Belgian army leadership brutally disperses a demonstration of Flemish soldiers in Hoogstaden, Van der Linden introduced the slogan ‘Omver en boven’ (Over and over) that became the slogan of the entire Movement.

The military security service arrested him for posting Flemish pamphlets in Hondschote, on suspicion of ‘endangering the security of the state’. On 20 March 1918, he is acquitted at the infamous trial known as the proces of the “6th Army Division”. He died of Spanish flu, eight days before the end of the war. In the hospital, a French-speaking doctor is said to have refused to treat him. During the 13th Pilgrimage to the Iron Age (21 August 1932), the remains of Frans van der Linden were interred in the crypt of the Yser Towers in Diksmuide.Crypte van de Eerste IJzertoren, wo1.be

116 years after his death, in 2024 on his death date, he was still remembered.

References

Category:People from Antwerp
Category:1894 births
Category:1918 deaths
Category:Military people
Category:Belgian people