Ieper and cats, a special relation by Pavlik_NL
Completely sure where it came from, no-one is, but cats and Ieper have a very special relationship. In early medieval times, the cat was a symbol of bad spirits. It was not one itself, but always predicted disasters and mischief. The Germanic tribes sacrificed cats to keep evil ghosts away. Christians saw them as a sign of the devil or witchcraft. In short, cats were not that popular and were not welcome anywhere. In Ieper they had a rather original way of getting rid of cats that were found. They were simply thrown from the Belforttower. This even became a tradition and kept on going when it was already abolished everywhere else. Until 1817 it happened then and again. One then said, oh, but it doesn;t hurt the cat ... they always land on their feet.
