The Mémorial de Caen is a museum and

war memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

commemorating

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and the

Battle for Caen The Battle for Caen (June to August 1944) is the name given to fighting between the British Second Army and the German in the Second World War for control of the city of Caen and its vicinity during the larger Battle of Normandy. The battles ...

. More generally, the museum is dedicated to the history of the twentieth century, mainly focused on the fragility of peace. Its intention is "pay a tribute to the martyred city of the liberation" but also to tell "what was the terrible story of the 20th century in a spirit of reconciliation".

Site

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. On entrance of the building is written: "The pain broke me, the fraternity relieved me, of my wound sprang a river of freedom" (sentence by Paul Dorey, local poet who speaks in the name of Normandy). In front of the entrance, we can see the flags of the main nations involved in the Battle of Normandy, and "

Non-violence Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...

", a sculpture by Swedish artist

Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd (4 June 1934 – 3 May 2016) was a Swedish painter and sculptor. He studied with Fernand Léger in Paris 1951 and was a professor of painting at The Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm 1965–1969. In 1974 he was a guest ...

. The memorial is dedicated to the history of violence and intensive, outstanding conflicts in the 20th Century and particularly

. The museum was officially opened on June 6, 1988 (the 44th anniversary of

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

) by the French President

François Mitterrand François Marie Adrien Maurice Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was President of France, serving under that position from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the history of France. As First Secretary of the Socialist Party, he ...

. The original building deals primarily with World War II, looking at the causes and course of the conflict. The museum was subsequently extended: * In 1991 a gallery dedicated to the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...

was added * Three memorial gardens, The American Garden, The British Garden and the Canadian Garden were dedicated to the three main allied nations involved in liberating France * An extension focusing on the Cold War and the search for Peace was opened by President Jacques Chirac in 2002. It comprises neutralized warheads, planes and a fragment of the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...

Gallery

File:Mémorial de Caen Hall.jpg, Hall File:Mémorial de Caen foyer October 2011.JPG, Foyer File:Caen memorial jardinamericain.jpg, American Garden File:Memorial Avion.jpg,

Hawker Typhoon The Hawker Typhoon is a British single-seat fighter-bomber, produced by Hawker Aircraft. It was intended to be a medium-high altitude interceptor, as a replacement for the Hawker Hurricane, but several design problems were encountered and i ...

ground-attack aircraft at Mémorial File:Memorial maquette porteavion usa.JPG, Model of U.S. aircraft carrier File:Mémorial uniforme soviétique WWII.JPG, Soviet army uniform (1939-1945) with PPSh-41 submachine gun File:Memorial V1.jpg, Model of German

V1 flying bomb The V-1 flying bomb (german: Vergeltungswaffe 1 "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Reich Aviation Ministry () designation was Fi 103. It was also known to the Allies as the buzz bomb or doodlebug and in Germany a ...

References

* This article is a summary translation of the French Wikipedia Article

External links

Official website

The Memorial de Caen at Google Cultural Institute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Memorial De Caen Buildings and structures in Caen World War II museums in France Peace museums World War II memorials in France Museums in Calvados (department)