The Verdun Memorial is a

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 ...

to commemorate the

Battle of Verdun The Battle of Verdun (french: Bataille de Verdun ; german: Schlacht um Verdun ) was fought from 21 February to 18 December 1916 on the Western Front in France. The battle was the longest of the First World War and took place on the hills north ...

, fought in 1916 as part of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. It is situated on the battlefield, close to the destroyed village of

Fleury-devant-Douaumont Fleury-devant-Douaumont (, literally ''Fleury before Douaumont'') is a commune in the Meuse department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. During the Battle of Verdun in 1916 it was captured and recaptured by the Germans and French 16 times. ...

in the ''

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the regions of France, admin ...

'' of

Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a t ...

in north-eastern

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 ...

.Sherman, Daniel J
''The Construction of Memory in Interwar France'' (in English)
University of Chicago Press. It was built during the 1960s, financed by

Maurice Genevoix Maurice Genevoix (; 29 November 1890 – 8 September 1980) was a French author. Life Born on 29 November 1890 at Decize, Nièvre as Maurice-Charles-Louis-Genevoix, Genevoix spent his childhood in Châteauneuf-sur-Loire. After attending the loca ...

and has been open to the public since September 17, 1967. It remembers both French and German combatants as well as the civilian populations lost during the

. Furthermore, it is a military museum which displays French and German armaments (including rifles, machine guns and field artillery), military vehicles, uniforms and equipment of both French and German troops during the battle.

The Douaumont ossuary

The Douaumont ossuary is a memorial containing the remains of soldiers who died on the battlefield during the Battle of Verdun in World War I.

Gallery

File:Bange 155 L Memorial de Verdun.jpg

References

Battle of Verdun Museums in Meuse (department) World War I memorials in France World War I museums in France Tourist attractions in Meuse (department) {{France-museum-stub