The Caen Memorial places WWII and the Normandy D-Day landings in context. It begins in 1918 and continues until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
How long should I allow a visit?
Allow a minimum of half a day to visit the museum. The monument is divided into sections so that you can take them at your own pace and have lunch in the good restaurant or have a snack in the cafe between watching the different exhibitions and the two main films.
1918 a 1945
Follow the path to WWII
Start with the events before WWII. This museum puts the war in context, with the seeds of war planted in 1918.
You start on a circular ramp that takes you past posters, movies, and explanations. The peace was a failure; Germany was caught in a growing spiral of debt and economic misery that spread to the rest of Europe, and in 1929 to Wall Street. Hitler’s rise was inevitable; The entire period came to life as you scroll through the images of the Nuremberg demonstrations in the 1920s and 1930s. Then came the rise of fascism, the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, and the financial collapse of Germany, and in January 1933, Hitler becomes Chancellor of the Third Reich.
You move around France in the black years , accompanied by songs by Maurice Chevalier, and you see how France managed. A war news report features the Battle of Britain and the turning point.
Everywhere there are objects related to different aspects of warfare. Don’t miss out on items ranging from Quarterback Montgomery’s beret to the Enigma M4 cipher machine at Bletchley Park in the UK.
World War II turned into Total War in 1941 when the USSR was invaded and the Japanese attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor. This section is particularly impressive with topics such as the Holocaust by bullets, mass violence and a fascinating film about different attitudes towards the French; and who contributed and why. Like the rest of the museum, the presentation does not hit and makes the viewer question their own opinions.
The D-Day Landings and the Battle of Normandy
These surprisingly unpopular galleries take you through the events of 1944. They deal with both the massive battles and the suffering of the locals. For example, little is known that 20,000 inhabitants in Normandy were killed (one-third of all civilians killed during WWII).
The war with Japan continues, a particularly bitter war with 24 million Chinese killed and a great Japanese expansionist program. Interest returns to Europe with the last years of the war. In the Bombed Cities Gallery you are surrounded by sounds of bombers, sirens and explosions, giving a very real idea of what it might have been like to be in Warsaw or Stalingrad, London, Rotterdam or Hiroshima.
Throughout this part of the museum, there are movies to watch such as Operation Barbarossa, the Battle of the Atlantic and the Submarine Warfare and the Japanese Soldier at War .
You leave the exhibition a bit surprised, but there is more to come. Two movies, D-Day and The Battle of Normandy take you back through archives and footage to the morning of June 6, 1944 when the landing began. A splitscreen shows German forces waiting and Allied preparations in British ports.
Tip: This is a good time to have lunch at the restaurant or a bite to eat in the cafeteria!
More on the D-Day Normandy landings
- Visit These Top D-Day Landing Beaches
- Hotels and accommodations near the D-day landing beaches
- The best movies about D-Day
About Dunkirk
After the release of the main film Dunkirk, now is the time to visit this small town on the coast that played such an important and tragic role in WWI.
- Dunkirk guide
- Operation Dynamo sites to see in Dunkirk
- Operation Dynamo Sites outside Dunkirk
The world after 1945
This much shorter section is a thought-provoking series of sections with objects that mix what the West was raised with a popcorn machine, alive in the East, perhaps a letter from the Communist Party or other lifeless object. . The Cold War begins and you see photos, the remains of the U-2 plane shot down in 1962, objects around the Cuban missile crisis and cold war weapons. Churchill’s Iron Curtain speech becomes reality.
There’s a good section on Berlin at the center of the Cold War, leading back to those gloriously optimistic days of 1989 when the Berlin Wall finally fell and the world felt safer.
Practical information
Direction
General Eisenhower Esplanade
Fall
Tel.: 00 33 (0) 2 31 06 06 44
Caen Memorial website
Open February 11-November 7, 2012 daily from 9 am to 7 pm
November 8th, 2012 to December 23, Tuesday to Sunday 9:30 am to 6 pm
December 24th to January 5th, 2012 9:30 am to 6 pm daily
website Check for 2013 dates (similar to above)
Closed December 25, January 1 and January 6 to 28, 2013
Last tickets one hour and 15 minutes before closing
Ticket prices
Adult 18.80 euros
Between 10 and 18 years old 16.30 euros
Children under 10 years free
Family pass 2 adults and 1 child or more 10 to 25 years 48 euros
Audio guides in French or English 4 euros per person.
More information
- The museum organizes guided tours of Landing Beaches by minivan
Full price 77 euros per person - D-Day Tour 111 euros per person
- The museum also offers good 2-day breaks, including the Memorial tour, a bilingual tour of the landing beaches, one night in a hotel with breakfast (minimum 2 people), and a brochure. From 107 to 139 euros per person.
Get to the Caen Memorial
By car From Paris take the A13 or from Rennes take the A84. For both exits on the ring road to the north, no. 7.
By bus Bus no. 2 runs regularly from the city center.
Get to Caen
- How to get to the Caen guide
- Ferries to France
