Musée de la Libération

The Musée de la Libération (Museum of Liberation) in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin presents the history of Cherbourg during the Second World War. Beginning with the Battle of France and German occupation of Cherbourg in 1940, the museum describes the city’s crucial strategic importance as a deep-water channel port and as a main Allied objective during the Battle of Normandy. Occupied by German forces in June 1940 as part of the coastal militarized zone, Cherbourg served for the next four years as an important element in coastal defenses. In 1942, Organisation Todt – military and civil engineering firm of Nazi Germany, and involved in the construction of the Atlantic Wall – established a Construction Sector Headquarters (Oberbauleitungen) in Cherbourg, which managed construction of defenses in the region between Trouville-sur-Mer (in the east) and Granville (in the west).

Following the D-Day Landings on June 6, 1944, Cherbourg was a primary objective for American forces debarking at Utah Beach to the south: identified as the closest large deep-water port to the landings, the capture and return to operation of this first harbour would be necessary to supply troops and material for the invasion of France. Reaching Cherbourg on June 21, American forces engaged in street fighting with the German garrison; the latter surrendered five days later. The liberation of Cherbourg involved extensive de-mining and repairs of port facilities, badly damaged by fighting and aerial bombing. With the reopening of the port to supply the Allied advance, Cherbourg served for several months as the world’s busiest harbour.     

The museum presents this wartime role and significance of Cherbourg with, it notes, “an emphasis on everyday military and civilian life.” Key themes explored include life under German occupation, German and Allied propaganda, civilian reactions to liberation, and the experience of American soldiers in Cherbourg. Collections include propaganda posters, formal documents and public notices produced by German and Allied authorities, everyday military and civilian objects from the period, and a collection of photographs documenting Cherbourg from 1940 to 1945. Initial collections of American military weapons and uniforms, the museum notes, were provided by the West Point Museum at the United States Military Academy at West Point; other artifacts were purchased or donated over time. A multimedia presentation titled “Cherbourg 1944: Strategic Sites of the Liberation” allows visitors to identify key structures and landmarks which played a role in the Battle of Cherbourg.

The museum itself is located within the Fort du Roule, a series of elevated defensive fortifications overlooking Cherbourg. An initial fortification was built on the location in 1793, to defend Cherbourg Harbour from the Royal Navy; the existing structures were constructed from 1853 to 1857 under Napoleon III. The fort served as the main German garrison in Cherbourg after 1940, and was expanded; as part of the museum, visitors can access tunnels and gun emplacements constructed by Organisation Todt.  

The Musée de la Libération was inaugurated on June 6, 1954, on the tenth anniversary of the D-Day Landings, by French President René Coty.