Hendrik Geeraert, the WWI hero who answers back at Westfront Nieuwpoort
Hendrik Geeraert stopped an invading army by opening the sluices in 1914. At Westfront Nieuwpoort visitors can ask him anything, in four languages, by simply holding a button.
Planning something like this for your museum? Tell us about it.
Hendrik’s story, told by Hendrik himself
Westfront Nieuwpoort tells the story of the 1914 flooding through the man who made it happen.
Hendrik Geeraert (1863 to 1925) was a boatman by trade, later appointed lock keeper. In 1914 he helped open the sluices at Nieuwpoort, flooding the Yser plain and halting the German advance. It earned him several military decorations and a permanent place in Flemish history.
The visitor centre of the city of Nieuwpoort wanted more than a portrait and a label, so we gave Hendrik his voice back. A microphone, four language buttons, and his documented character: rebellious, grumpy yet humorous, refreshingly straightforward. Hold the button, ask him anything, and he answers as himself in one to two seconds. The whole thing runs on a small computer inside the console and has been on duty since March 2025.
Press the button and put your question to Hendrik Geeraert. The wooden console is the whole installation.
Grumpy, funny and straight to the point
Hendrik was no polished statesman, and the installation does not pretend he was.
A boatman who knew the water, a lock keeper who used it, and a personality the sources agree on: rebellious, grumpy yet humorous. That character is exactly why the conversation works. Visitors are not talking to a museum, they are talking to a man with opinions. They do not just learn about history, they hear it from the person who lived it. Questions visitors put to him, straight from the exhibition floor:
- “What was the war like for you?”
- “Why did you become a hero?”
- “What did you eat during the war?”
- “Why do you wear your moustache like that?”
- “What do you think about the Germans?” (touchy subject)
The Hendrik corner at Westfront Nieuwpoort, the visitor centre of the city of Nieuwpoort.
What would you ask a war hero?
Pick one of the five questions visitors really ask him.
Wet. I was a boatman before I was a lock keeper, so I knew the water better than I knew most people. In 1914 it was the only ally that did exactly what I asked.
I never applied for the job. An army was marching on my town and I happened to know which sluices to open, so we opened them and the Yser plain did the rest. The decorations came later.
Less than before the war, and I ate what there was. Next question.
Like what? This moustache was here long before the war and it is staying. A man who fusses over his moustache has too much time.
In 1914 they wanted to cross the Yser plain, so I gave them my honest opinion: seawater, a whole plain of it. The flood said it better than I ever could.
Written in Hendrik’s voice for this page. At Westfront every answer is generated live, in one to two seconds.
Two minutes with a war hero
This is what a conversation with Hendrik sounds like.
A conversation with a WWI hero
Recorded at Westfront Nieuwpoort. Every answer is generated on the spot, in character.
Three steps, no app
A microphone and four language buttons on a wooden console. That is the whole interface.
Pick a language
English, Dutch, French or German, chosen with one press. Nothing to download, nothing to scan, nothing to log into.
Hold and ask
Hold the button, ask your question out loud into the microphone, let go. That is all there is to learn.
Hendrik answers
Historical facts, in character, in one to two seconds, grumpy where the question deserves it.
Talking with history beats reading about it
The museum feared silly questions and got serious ones instead.
Young and old join in
Hendrik lowers the threshold. Children and grandparents both end up in a real conversation with a historical figure, and a story from long ago suddenly feels concrete and close.
People take it seriously
Westfront expected a stream of joke questions. That is not what happened: most visitors take the chance seriously and ask Hendrik real ones.
Always in character
Hendrik answers as the rebellious lock keeper he was, not as a search engine. Ask him something outside his world and he responds as a man of 1914 would.
Four languages
English, Dutch, French and German, so international visitors on the coast get the same conversation as locals.
Mieke Dobbels, Curator and Project Manager Westfront, City of Nieuwpoort.
And in 2025 Westfront came back for a second job: Toeba, a little audio dog written by the museum and recorded in Dutch by Johannes Verschaeve. From 23 minutes of Dutch recording we cloned his voice with AI and produced the French, German and English versions. The first project earned the second one.
What war museums ask us first
Does Hendrik stay in character?
Yes. He answers as the grumpy, humorous lock keeper he was. When a question falls outside his world he responds as Hendrik would, not as a search engine.
Which languages does he speak?
English, Dutch, French and German at Westfront, chosen with one button press. The system is not limited to four, so the mix can follow your visitors.
Do visitors need a phone or an app?
No. The console holds a microphone and four language buttons. Nothing to download, nothing to scan, nothing to log into.
Would this work with our local hero?
If your museum has a person with a documented life, it works: the character is built from the biography your team approves.
The same idea at other venues
The same idea in a Roman museum, an art museum and a science centre.
Want your local hero to talk back?
Tell us who your Hendrik is. We will tell you honestly whether his story can carry a conversation.
