In 1843, it was decided to build a new prison in Ypres to replace the old ‘Rasphuis’ in which criminals, tramps and young thieves were locked up. They had to work in common rooms by day and sleep in their cell by night. The new prison of Ypres was a cellular prison according to the view of the time: the prisoners had to live in confinement, without any contact with other prisoners. They had limited contact with the outside world and had to work on their moral improvement.During WW I, the prison functioned as the commander’s office, field hospital and house of arrest for British soldiers. After the war, the damaged prison was a barracks for the state police in addition to a house of arrest. In 1921, the restoration work of the prison started. From July 1938 to January 1939, the gate building of the prison was also used as a youth hostel and the ruins of the main building were an attraction for hikers. After WW II, the prison of Ypres gained importance. Because of the devastation of the prison of Courtrai, it had, after all, also become the house of arrest for the court district Courtrai.