:
The Rommel Museum is a museum dedicated to the memory of German field marshal
Erwin Rommel
Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel () (15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944) was a German field marshal during World War II. Popularly known as the Desert Fox (, ), he served in the ''Wehrmacht'' (armed forces) of Nazi Germany, as well as servi ...
in
Mersa Matruh in
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
.
It opened in 1977 on the initiative of the Egyptian government and with support of the
West German
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
government, to establish a museum in Rommel's honour. It is located in the caves Rommel used as his headquarters during part of the
El Alamein
El Alamein ( ar, العلمين, translit=al-ʿAlamayn, lit=the two flags, ) is a town in the northern Matrouh Governorate of Egypt. Located on the Arab's Gulf, Mediterranean Sea, it lies west of Alexandria and northwest of Cairo. , it had ...
campaign, and has since become a
tourist attraction
A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement.
Types
Places of natural b ...
. Rommel's son
Manfred Rommel
Manfred Rommel (24 December 1928 – 7 November 2013) was a German politician belonging to the Christian Democratic Union (Germany), Christian Democratic Union (CDU), who served as mayor of Stuttgart from 1974 until 1996. Rommel's policies were ...
, then the Lord Mayor of
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
, was guest of honour at the opening and donated several of Rommel's belongings to the museum. The museum reopened in 2017 after several years of restoration work on the caves.
An island, a beach and a bridge near the museum are also named for Rommel. There is also a Rommel Café and a Rommel Hotel.
[Anne McLachlan, Keith Stanley McLachlan, ''Egypt Handbook'', p. 375, 2000]
References
{{coord, 31.3656, 27.2484, type:landmark_region:EG, display=title
Museums in Egypt
Erwin Rommel