Marshal Joffree was born on 12 January 1852, in Rivesaltes. In honour of the soldier who was made a Marshal of France in 1916, the commune acquired Joffre’s birthplace and turned it into a museum.

It was officially opened on 10 January 1987, by the then state secretary to the Minister of Defence, Jacques Boyon.

On the ground floor, formerly the stables, cooperage and entrance hall, the display presents the key moments in Joffre’s life. There are two sculptures of the Marshal, 30 panels of 200 photographs charting his career and a display presenting the main battles of the First World War.

On the first floor of the family apartment, visitors can see Joffre’s study, complete with its original furnishings, together with historical paintings and gifts from Spanish and South American Catalans. On display in the antechamber are objects (kepi, sword and bicorn hat of the French Academy) and mannequins dressed as infantry soldiers from 1914-15, as well as the Marshal’s own uniforms. The kitchen and the bedroom in which Joffre was born have been recreated.

The top floor, which served as a hayloft, is devoted mainly to the Battle of the Marne, with an animated relief map and projections recreating the key moments. A 50-minute film charts the main events of the First and Second World Wars. Outside, at the edge of the path, is a statue of Marshal Joffre on horseback.

Musée Joffre

11, rue du Maréchal Joffre - 66600 Rivesaltes

Tel.: +33 (0)4 68 64 24 98 or (0)4 68 64 04 04

Fax: +33 (0)4 68 38 50 88

Opening times

Open daily, 8 am to 12 noon and 2 pm to 6 pm, except weekends.

June to September, 8 am to 12 noon and 2 pm to 6 pm; weekends, 2 pm to 6 pm.

Closed on bank holidays. Free admission.

The Coudehard-Montormel Museum, the only one of its kind, is in the heart of the Falaise pocket, where Germany's powerful war machine eventually collapsed under the Allies' blows. The museum includes an outdoormonument-exhibitionand a guided tour inside thememorial, which offers an annual programme, and the battlefield, which people can visit on their own. The monument was built for the battle's 20th anniversary in 1965. Its sober architecture prompts visitors to think about the tragic events that occurred here and commemorates the sacrifice of the Polish soldiers who died "for our freedom and yours". The memorial was built in 1994 to mark the battle's 50th anniversary. Inserted into the side of hill 262, where Polish tanks fought on the afternoon of 19 August 1944, it naturally fits into the landscape. The annual programme, which is open to all, offers guided tours of the Falaise pocket, film screenings and various cultural activities. Near the memorial, the marked "August 1944" route takes visitors past strategic places where fierce fighting occurred during the battle of the Falaise pocket and pays tribute to the soldiers. The Coudehard-Montormel Museum bears witness to the combined efforts of four Allied nations fighting to defeat a common enemy. It is an unforgettable immersion into the hell that was the Battle of Normandy, and a visit provides the opportunity for a rare educational experience.

Montormel-Coudehard Memorial "Les Hayettes" 61160 Montormel Tel.: 02 33 67 38 61 - Fax: 02 33 67 38 72 E-mail: memorial.montormel@worldonline.fr Opening times: 1 May to 30 September Every day: 9:30am-6pm 1er October to 31 March Wednesdays/Saturdays/Sundays: 10am-5pm (For groups by appointment on other days) 1 to 30 April Every day: 10am-5pm

La Picardie est une région fortement touchée par les deux guerres mondiales. 

Région stratégique, lieu de passage entre le nord de l'Europe et Paris, la Picardie se trouve partagée entre la zone interdite et la zone occupée. La présence de l'occupant est durement ressentie. Des hommes et des femmes vont peu à peu réagir. "L'armée de l'ombre" se construit. 

Le département de l'Aisne a sur son territoire un musée consacré à l'histoire des résistants et des déportés. Un musée voulu par des résistants dont Etienne Dromas, qui a trouvé sa place dans la commune associée de Tergnier, Fargniers. 

Vous êtes invités à découvrir ce musée unique en Picardie, implanté sur une place classée monument historique.

L’histoire du lieu

Après avoir trouvé à Tergnier un bâtiment pouvant l’accueillir, le conseil général de l’Aisne vote la somme nécessaire à sa rénovation. L’office départemental de tourisme, avec à sa tête Maurice Bruaux, apporte son aide et son concours. Le premier aménagement se fait grâce à la mobilisation des résistants qui assurent son fonctionnement pendant de nombreuses années.

À voir

Le premier espace permet de découvrir et de comprendre l’histoire de la période allant de l’arrivée d’Hitler au pouvoir jusqu’à l’intervention du maréchal Pétain le 17 juin 1940, suivent des espaces consacrés à l’appel du 18 juin, la naissance de la Résistance et son action, la vie quotidienne sous l’Occupation, la répression et la Déportation. Un espace est également consacré au bureau des opérations aériennes et aux parachutages, aux forces françaises libres dans le monde, au Débarquement et à la Libération. De nombreux objets et matériels viennent compléter l’exposition permanente : un Beechcraft C.45, une locomotive, un wagon ayant servi à la déportation… En octobre 2005, 300 mètres carrés se sont ajoutés à la salle d’exposition permanente. Cet espace polyvalent met à disposition du public une salle de réunion, de conférence, d’exposition temporaire et de projection ainsi qu’une médiathèque et un centre documentaire.

Le musée accorde une place toute particulière au public scolaire. Des dossiers pédagogiques ont été élaborés. Des ateliers (analyse de documents, rencontre avec des témoins…) sont développés sur différents thèmes (la vie sous l’Occupation, la Résistance…), et sont animés par les enseignants ou par un intervenant du musée.

Sources : ©Musée de la Résistance et de la Déportation de Picardie

 - Compléments d’infos sur la Citadelle - Infos pratiques (accès, horaires) de la Citadelle  -

- Tarifs - Contact infos pratiques -

Belfort is located at the centre of a broad depression between the Vosges and Jura, known as the Belfort gap. This gap links Alsace, Germany and Switzerland with the Franche-Comté region and Rhone Valley. This means that it has not only been a major route for trade, but also for invasions, which explains the fortifications here.

Walled town and Castle In the Middle Ages, a stone wall with several towers protected a small town huddled at the foot of this rock, upon which sits a feudal castle whose existence can be traced back to 1226. Rendered obsolete by the invention of the metal bullet in the 15th century, these fortifications, which had been laid siege to seven times, were in a poor state when they underwent their first modernisation. Between 1637 and 1648, the Comte de la Suze added a fortified facade to the castle. Then, at the request of King Louis XIV, the famous engineer Vauban took his turn in modernising the fortress, adding hornworks and a barracks. However, the transformation was most spectacular in the town itself: between 1687 and 1703, the old city walls were flattened and replaced by a fortified pentagonal wall that doubled the area of the town, where magazines and barracks were built. Large sections of this new wall, which was part of Vauban's "second system", remain today, including three fortified towers and the Brisach gate with its complete fortified facade. Testament to the value of these fortifications came especially with the siege of 1815, which left the fortress untaken.
The first ring of forts In the late 18th and early 19th century, as the accuracy and mobility of artillery increased, towns could find themselves threatened by canons placed by the enemy on nearby hills. To prevent the occupation of this high ground, fortifications had to be built: this signalled the appearance of the first rings of forts around towns. With the exception of a few campaign fortifications carried out at the time of the Revolution and in 1815, the first modernisations of the stronghold since Vauban began in 1817, under the orders of General Haxo. The castle was completely revised and transformed into a modern fortress and the city walls altered, whilst to the northeast of the town, the Le Vallon entrenched camp was built, including the La Miotte and La Justice forts. Then, in 1857, a wall around the outskirts was foreseen, with the building of front 3 4 to the West of the town. The increase in the range of canons resulting from the appearance of rifled artillery the following year made new works to the South and East of the town essential. The Barres fort was built between 1865 and 1870. Lastly, in 1870, the first extension to the town's defences was completed, with the terraced redoubts of Les Perches and Bellevue (on the site of the current cemetery of the same name). Belfort underwent the memorable siege of 1870-1871, from which it emerged undefeated, with a ring of advanced forts located at a distance of around 1,200 - 1,500 metres from the original fortified city walls. After the war, as part of the "Séré de Rivières" programme, the Les Perches forts were rebuilt and a wall was built around the outskirts.
The castle The Belfort citadel has three concentric walls. Starting from outside the fortress, the first is the exterior wall, which contains Vauban's old hornworks, then there is the intermediate enclosure that contains a group of artillery casemates.
These two enclosures (built between 1820 and 1840) are the work of General Haxo. After the intermediate enclosure, the impressive structure of the Comte de la Suze's crownworks (1637-1648) comes into view. Overlooking this, a cavalaryman (a terreplein built on top of another work, doubling its firepower) houses the artillery casemates (1819-1826), behind which are the main courtyard and pink sandstone barracks dating from 1826. All that remains today of the mediaeval fortress is the well, the ditch (covered over and converted into a barracks in 1749) and the 13th-century Bourgeois tower. The castle was equipped with around a hundred open air or casemate-located canons and could provide safe shelter for over 1,000 men. It played a key role in the 1870-1871 siege and housed the stronghold command post until 1940.
Started in 1831, in roughly triangular shape, this is a bastioned fort with a cavalryman, designed to house around ten open-air canons.
On the western bastion is a tower that serves as a lookout. Hit by shell-fire in 1870-1871 and 1940, it was rebuilt each time, though more for sentimental than military reasons. Indeed, before the fort was built, this place was the site of a very old stone tower of uncertain origin and purpose, which became highly symbolic to the people of Belfort.
Strongly fortified in a roughly triangular shape, with two cavalrymen and a barracks for around 300 men, construction of La Justice fort began in 1826 to house around twenty open air artillery pieces.
On 18th June 1940, the fort's small garrison held out against the enemy for 9 hours, at the cost of heavy casualties. Vallon Facade Started in 1831 and finished in 1842, the Vallon Facade is a rampart, with a gate through it, connecting the La Miotte and La Justice forts and blocking the road to Alsace. With the natural rampart created by the hills of La Miotte and La Justice, this forms a protected quadrilateral: the entrenched encampment of Le Vallon, designed to act as an assembly area for a field army in times of war (and a refuge where necessary).
Les Barres was one of the last bastioned works to be built in France. Although some features are evidence of a reaction to advances in artillery, especially rifled artillery, Les Barres fort is largely traditional.
This large crownwork (one bastion and two half-bastions) was constructed between 1865 and 1870 to occupy the high ground of Les Barres in order to avoid enemy activity against the town's outskirts and Vauban's enclosure. The rampart is equipped for 25 open-air artillery pieces plus one in a casemate. The gorge is blocked by a single crenulated wall. Two impressive cross-members overhang the huge internal esplanade, each housing a powder magazine. A third powder magazine and a casemated barracks are contained under the ramparts. Over the frontage, a crenellated gallery runs the length of the scarp; this enabled the ditch to be fired upon. The powder magazine of the major central cross member was reinforced with a concrete shield in 1889. In 1893, large barracks were built on the internal esplanade to accommodate the stronghold's foot artillery regiment. After the demolition of these barracks when returned to civilian use, the fort regained its original appearance, apart from on one flank, where a road has been built through it.
Tourist Office 2 rue Clemenceau 90000 Belfort Tel.: +33 (0) 384 55 90 90 Fax: +33 (0) 384 55 90 70 E-mail: tourisme90@ot-belfort.fr Fortifications and Belfort Castle Free Parking Unaccompanied visits Guided tours No handicapped access Guided tours for groups by appointment

Situé dans l’Ain, la Maison d’Izieu perpétue le souvenir des enfants et adultes juifs qui y avaient trouvé refuge entre mai 1943 et le 6 avril 1944.

Attaché au présent et tourné vers l’avenir, le mémorial suscite la réflexion sur le crime contre l’humanité et les circonstances qui l’engendrent.

À travers l’évocation des enfants juifs d’Izieu et de leurs éducateurs, c’est contre toute forme d’intolérance et de racisme qu’il entend lutter.

En mai 1943, Sabine et Miron Zlatin, en lien avec l’Œuvre de Secours aux Enfants (OSE), installent une quinzaine d’enfants juifs à Izieu, alors en zone d’occupation italienne, ce qui les met temporairement à l’abri des poursuites antisémites.

Jusqu’en janvier 1944, date de la dernière liste du registre des présences tenu par Miron Zlatin, 105 enfants ont séjourné à la colonie d’Izieu.
Celle-ci est souvent un lieu de passage dans un réseau de sauvetage plus vaste, composé d’autres maisons, de familles d’accueil ou de filières de passage en Suisse.

Au matin du 6 avril 1944, 44 enfants, âgés de 4 à 17 ans, et 7 adultes furent raflés puis déportés sur ordre de Klaus Barbie, parce qu’ils étaient juifs. Le directeur de la colonie, M. Zlatin, ainsi que deux adolescents furent déportés vers des camps de travaux forcés en Estonie. Le reste du groupe fut déporté à Auschwitz. Seule une monitrice, Léa Feldblum, revint.

Traqué et ramené en France par Serge et Beate Klarsfeld, Klaus Barbie fut jugé et condamné à Lyon en 1987, pour crime contre l’humanité.

Au lendemain du procès, une association se crée autour de Mme Zlatin pour l’ouverture du « Musée-Mémorial des enfants d’Izieu ».

Aujourd’hui, deux bâtiments se visitent :

La maison, espace sensible d‘évocation, est dédiée à la mémoire. L'exposition y est volontairement sobre et claire.

La grange, dédiée à l’histoire, accueille une exposition de 530 m2 qui se déploie en trois thèmes : Pourquoi des enfants à Izieu ? fait découvrir au visiteur l’histoire et le parcours des enfants de la colonie . De Nuremberg à La Haye : juger les criminels propose une réflexion sur les jugements des criminels de guerre et sur les crimes contre l’humanité après 1945 . enfin, La mémoire et sa construction invite le visiteur à découvrir les mécanismes de construction de la mémoire à partir de la construction de la mémoire d’Izieu.

Visiter la Maison d’Izieu permet à tous les publics d’aborder le génocide des enfants juifs pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, ainsi que l’histoire des réseaux de sauvetage qui ont cherché à soustraire ces enfants aux persécutions antisémites de la France de Vichy et de l’Allemagne nazie.

Le mémorial accueille les enfants à partir de 8 ans. Un livret de visite est remis gratuitement et permet de découvrir l'histoire des enfants d'Izieu et de parcourir le mémorial à son rythme.

Offre pédagogique :

Ateliers pour tous les niveaux scolaires, rencontres de témoins et d'artistes.

Offre tous publics :

Des visites accompagnées de la maison sont proposées tous les jours.

Visites pour les enfants en famille : mercredis des vacances scolaires (zone A), à 14h.

Audioguides en anglais, italien, espagnol et allemand.

Visites en anglais, italien, espagnol et allemand sur réservation.

Sources : ©Maison d’Izieu, mémorial des enfants juifs exterminés

Bois du Four fortification has a reinforced concrete roof 3.5 metres thick.
 

Initial plans by the Commission for the Organisation of Fortified Regions (CORF) described an artillery fortification with five combat blocks and separate entrances for men and ammunition. The blockhouse was built between 1931 and 1932. The finished building has 3 levels: the top floor, the bottom floor and a short passageway 30 metres underground. It was capable of housing 137 men. It was armed with, firstly, an eclipse turret with twin Reibel machine guns and three GFM cloches with rifle-machine-gunners and, secondly, with five crenels equipped with twin Reibels, three of which are switchable and a 47mm anti-tank cannon, six crenels with rifle-machine-gunners and two 81cm mortars under a bunker. A cloche completes the observation post.

Bois du Four fortification
 

Located between Longwy and Metz (N52/A30) take the Morfontaine/zone industrielle exit and follow signs towards Morfontaine.

Tel: +33 (0)3 82 26 12 10

E-mail: contact@maginot-a5.org

Guided tours between 2pm and 5pm on the first Sundays in May, June, July, August and September.

Groups by appointment only.

Entrance: Adults €2, children under 12 €1.

Fortweb website on European fortifications

Website on the Maginot line

The history of the Aube Resistance abounds with personalities and stories. Immediately following Liberation, associations of former Resistance fighters were set up, which introduced commemorations and erected memorials to the fighting that took place in the Aube.

One such organisation, the association “Le Musée de la Résistance” was founded in 1967. Its object was to create a remembrance site for those who fought in June 1944 in the maquis of Mussy-Grancey, known as the “Montcalm maquis”, based in the forested massif between the Seine and Ource valleys. Placed under the command of Émile Alagiraude (whose code name in the Armée Secrète was Montcalm), the Montcalm maquis comprised 220 members of the FFI (French Forces of the Interior) in June 1944, at the time of the D-Day Landings, and nearly 1 200 by late July. The Resistance museum set up in Mussy-sur-Seine has its roots in the initiative of Colonel Poirier and Commander Hubert Danesini, veterans of the Armée Secrète, together with that of Gildas Bernard, Director of the Aube Departmental Archives.

Back in 1964, a touring exhibition on the Aube Resistance had been created, which presented local collections largely linked to the Mussy-Grancey maquis. Following the founding of the museum association by members of the Amicale des Combattants Volontaires de l’Armée Secrète and the Comité du Souvenir du Maquis de Mussy-Grancey, in 1967, the museum itself came into existence in 1971, in a building converted by the departmental architect, Mr Morisseau. The premises, adjoining the former gendarmerie of Mussy-sur-Seine, were loaned to the association. It was officially opened by Robert Galley on 23 May 1971, in the presence of the prefect of the Aube and the departmental councillors for Mussy and Bar-sur-Seine. After passing into the hands of the municipality in 1974, the museum became a “Musée de France” in 2002.

Today it is called the Musée de la Résistance de l’Aube. It is currently undergoing major renovation and restoration work to its building, its displays and its collections, which include equipment and clothing used by members of the maquis, deportees’ clothing, photographs, and posters linked to the Occupation or Liberation. The goal of the museum is to showcase objects and memories of the Resistance in the Aube, including other maquis (e.g. BOA, Commandos M, Libération Nord), other forms of resistance (women’s resistance, resistance outside the maquis, etc.) and other collections arising from donations or local bequests.

It is scheduled to reopen in 2021 for the general public and school visits, either as part of a cultural programme or for guided tours or unguided visits.

Website: https://museeresistanceaube.fr/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/museeresistanceaube/

Instagram: @museeresistanceaube

The Atlantic Wall Museum is housed in one of the German army's seven large forts and its construction was carried out by the Todt organisation in Audinghen Cap Gris-Nez, in the Pas-de-Calais region. The history of the fort On 10 February 1942 and with great pomp, the offensive battery with casemates containing four 380 mm cannons was opened. Known initially as the Siegfried Battery, it was given the name "Todt Battery" in memory of the German construction engineer killed the previous day in an aircraft accident. Two days later on 12 February, this battery entered active service providing counter-battery fire to enable the passage of the battleships "Gneisenau" and "Scharnhorst" and the heavy cruiser "Prinz Eugen" along the coast. This battery was positioned to the south of Gris-Nez, at a place called Haringzelle and constituted a formidable complex. It could fire rocket and percussion shells up to 42 kilometres. Situated at an altitude of 60 to 70 metres, depending on the position of the cannons, it could easily reach the English coast. The battery was protected by reinforced concrete boulders and defended by nine 75-barrel cannons to provide anti-aircraft cover with searchlight batteries. The personnel of the batteries (18 men and 4 officers per 380 cannon), that of the coastal and civil defence, of the two command posts set up at Le Cran Mademoiselle and the Le Cran Poulet protection Battery was 600 men. Action at the battery was heavy throughout 1942, quieter in 1943 and then considerable after 6 June 1944.

Up to 29 September 1944 There was much firing on 6 June 1944, the day of the landings. The 3rd Division of Canadian Infantry coming along the coast from Normandy, after having liberated Boulogne and surrounded Calais, finally came to attack the Todt battery, under the command of Ship of the Line ensign Klaus Momber. On 26 September 1944 the R.A.F. launched 532 bombers on Gris-Nez, followed by 302 on 28 September, dropping 855 tonnes of bombs. The attack was carried out on 29 September 1944. First, at 6.35 am there was heavy artillery fire. Then the 9th brigade of the 3rd Canadian ID attacked. The North Nova Scotia Highlanders had the task of taking the Todt battery. At 10.30 am, it was all over, with white flags appearing just about everywhere. Brigadier Rockingam sent the white flag that had floated above the Todt Battery to the mayor of Dover. The museum Dedicated to military history, the museum offers the opportunity to see several thousand collection pieces in its ten halls. Weapons, uniforms, posters, and other militaria illustrate various aspects of the Atlantic Wall. Outside a German K 5 280 mm cannon on an iron track, the only one in Europe, stands alongside military vehicles and tanks.

Built in the 18th century, the Hôtel de Brienne had several owners before it was purchased by the State in 1817. Today it is home to the Ministry of Defence. In 1725 a reputable businessman called François Duret bought some land, which is now situated between rue Saint-Dominique and rue de l'Université, on behalf of the Marquess of Prie, the mistress of the Duke of Bourbon, who wanted to have a large mansion house built there. After the Duke of Bourbon was disgraced in 1726, the Marquess of Prie gave up the idea of living in the hôtel that was under construction and it was then sold to Françoise de Mailly, the widow of the marquis of La Vrillière. In 1733 she sold the building to Louise-Elisabeth of Bourbon, princess of Conti, who had some major changes made to the interior decoration under the supervision of the architect Simonnet. Just before her death in 1775, the princess of Conti donated the hôtel to her grandson, Louis-François-Joseph of Bourbon, the Count of La Marche. He then sold it the following year to Louis-Marie-Athanase of Loménie, the Count of Brienne, who was named Secretary of State for War in 1787. L'hôtel de Conti thus took the name of the Hôtel de Brienne, which it retains to this day and was home for the first time in its history to a minister of war.

The day after the death of the Count of Brienne, guillotined in May 1794, the building was confiscated by the revolutionary administration, who installed the commission for commerce and provisions there. Returned to the Countess of Brienne in 1795, the hôtel was sold in 1798 to the wife of François Séguy, a general businessman in military subsistence, who had a lot of refurbishment work carried out under the supervision of the architect Lavoyepierre. The Séguys were to fall victim to financial difficulties and soon had to be parted from their new acquisition. In 1800, the hôtel was sold at auction by the civil court of first instance in the Seine département to Joseph Lanfrey, an employee at the office of military subsistence, who rented it to the then interior minister, Lucien Bonaparte. In 1802, Lucien Bonaparte, Napoleon's brother, bought it and rearranged the interior of the building and the furniture, before reselling it in 1805 to his mother, Laetizia Bonaparte, née Ramolino. The building thus became "the Palace of Madame Bonaparte, the Mother of the Emperor". Bought back from Madame Bonaparte by the State in 1817, the Hôtel de Brienne from then onwards became the customary residence of the Minister for War. Because of this, the building has been witness to some great political events. It was here that Clémenceau organised the victory in 1917. It was also here that General de Gaulle had his headquarters, first of all as Secretary of State for War in June 1940 and then as head of the temporary government from the 25th August 1944 until the 26th January 1946. This site is not open to the public, except on Heritage Days.
This historic monument, allocated to the Ministry of Defence, comes under the umbrella of a Defence and Culture protocol signed on the 17th September 2005. Click here to see the list of other buildings ...
Ministry of Defence General Secretary for Administration Department of Remembrance, Heritage and Archives Office of cultural and museographic activities 14 rue Saint-Dominique 00450 Armées E-mail: dmpa-sdace-bacm@sga.defense.gouv.fr