Somme 1916 Trench Museum

At the approach of World War II, which everyone felt soon upon them, to shelter the civil population and prevent mass exodus, the Town Hall decided to fortify the underground tunnels. It is inside the largest tunnel (10 meters underground and 250 meters long, from the Basilica through to the public garden) in which the Somme 1916 Museum is located.


The long corridor and alcoves allow for real life scenarios to show the life of soldiers in the trenches. By the end of 1991, under the leadership of the Municipality, the idea of creating a museum honouring 1914-1918 war veterans takes shape.


Thierry Gourlin (who was head of the Albert Fire Station at the time) and a team set up a reconstruction project along with 11 people from an unemployment reinsertion organism, working during 6 months to repair and retrofit the already existing tunnel.


The museum opened its doors on the 1st of July 1992, that year 10,000 entries were registered. That number had reached 90 000 by 2014, 60% of the visitors being Anglophone. Each year, the museum obtains new relics to valorize the scenes during the winter closure.