Mémorial de Caen

Caen, France

The Mémorial de Caen is a museum and war memorial in Caen, commemorating the Second World War and the Battle for Caen. The building and grounds are located in the northern suburbs of the city of Caen on the site of an old blockhouse. The architect was Jacques Millet and the original curator was Yves Degraine.

The memorial is dedicated to the history of violence and intensive, outstanding conflict in the 20th Century and particularly World War II. The museum was officially opened on 6 June 1988 (the 44th anniversary of D day) by the French President François Mitterrand. The original building deals primarily with World War II looking at the causes and course of the conflict.

References:

Comments

Your name



Details

Founded: 1989
Category: Museums in France

Rating

4.6/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Paul DeWys (3 months ago)
This is a very large Museum that spans all of World War II through to the fall of the Berlin wall. If you want to see everything plan on spending at least half a day here. Everything is extremely well done and they really use a lot of multimedia on top of written text.
Terry Brooks (3 months ago)
Wow - what a glorious museum and memorial complex. A dramatic building and an impressive lobby area. The exhibition had a really good logical flow and some tremendous detail and artifacts. The additional (optional) Life under the Red White & Blue exhibit was also really interesting. Good food in the restaurant and one of the best gift shops seen at any museum. A must-visit museum.
william willis (5 months ago)
Great museum with a couple of different aspects. WW2 museum with a German bunker complex and various commemorative gardens to the allies Only criticism is I thought it was expensive for what it was. Would have preferred more access to the bunker but that's a minor criticism. Something for everyone and lots to absorb. A small part in my 9 day DDay 80th anniversary visit
J Rain (6 months ago)
This was a fantastic experience and a very well-done museum. They have at least four different areas of the museum. The first was World War II, the second was outside where there is a German bunker under the museum, the third is a movie theater with a good film, and the fourth was the American life of soldiers in the 1930s, it was all very moving and educational and I’m glad I visited.
Jessie Ong (6 months ago)
A historical museum where the history of D-day were presented in interactive way. Good way of understanding the history, and appreciate the present. We paid €19.80 per pax, without the audio guide. Audio guide is €4.50 per piece. The counter staff told us that there are bilingual information board for every section. We made it through and enjoyed the experience. There is a bistro on the 1st floor, selling drink, burger, lasagna and sandwiches. A cozy place for a quick bites. Burger was €11.90 and lasagna was €8.xx. There is also a book store selling D-day merchandise, souvenirs, books and postcards. There are lifts and slopes for wheelchair users. You may access to the museum by bas number 2 from the city.
Powered by Google

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Historic Site of the week

Bengtskär Lighthouse

Towering 52 meters above the sea, Bengtskär lighthouse is the tallest one in Scandinavia. The building started in in 1905 after the shipwreck of S/S Helsingfors and was completed in 1906. The lighthouse was designed by architect Florentin Granholm. On December a special petrol lantern, designed and built in Paris, was brought to Bengtskär and installed atop the tower.

German fleet bombarded Bengstkär in the First World War in 1914. Since the Gulf of Finland was heavily mined, it was not until 1919 that the surrounding seas were declared safe for shipping, that the light was lit again.

After the war the military value of Bengtskär increased as part of the defence system of independent Finland. In Second World War (1941) Soviet Union made a suprise attack to island. After a bloody battle, the small Finnish garrison emerged victorious. Intermittent repairs to the facility continued during the post-war period.