Operation Cart 27 mars 1942 (≈ 1942)
British Raid on Saint-Nazaire triggering German reinforcement.
22 octobre 1942 - 8 février 1943
Blockhouse construction
Blockhouse construction 22 octobre 1942 - 8 février 1943 (≈ 1943)
German construction period.
11 mai 1945
Pocket release
Pocket release 11 mai 1945 (≈ 1945)
German edition at Saint-Nazaire.
1er juillet 1997
Opening of the museum
Opening of the museum 1er juillet 1997 (≈ 1997)
Inauguration by the Braeuer brothers.
2007
Installation of cannon 240 mm
Installation of cannon 240 mm 2007 (≈ 2007)
Addition of a historical artillery piece.
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui Aujourd'hui (≈ 2025)
Position de référence.
Key figures
Luc Braeuer - Museum co-founder
Purchased and transformed the blockhouse.
Marc Braeuer - Museum co-founder
Collector of local historical objects.
Origin and history
The Grand Blockhaus, located in Batz-sur-Mer, Loire-Atlantique, is a former bunker of the Atlantic Wall built between October 1942 and February 1943 by German forces. Intended to protect the Loire estuary after the 1942 Allied raids (Operation Chariot at Saint-Nazaire and Dieppe raid), he simulated a villa with trompe l'oeil paintings. Equipped with relative comfort (water running, heating), it housed a command post but never saw enemy naval action.
At the Liberation in May 1945, the intact blockhouse was abandoned and then occupied by refugees (1951-1953). Repurchased by the National Navy in 1958 for an aborted radar project, he remained unoccupied until 1995. In that year, brothers Luc and Marc Braeuer, passionate about local history, transformed it into a museum with a call for municipal projects. Opened in 1997, the museum reconstructs 12 scenes of military life (1944-1945) and exhibits private collections enriched by donations from veterans.
The museum also features iconic pieces of artillery: a 240 mm French gun reused by the Germans (installed in 2007), a 88 mm Spanish anti-aircraft gun recovered in 1998, and an American M8 sheller loaned in 2019. An original fresco of 1945, saved from a bunker in Trignac, depicts submarine U-96, a symbol of the Battle of the Atlantic conducted from Saint-Nazaire. These elements illustrate German defensive strategy and allied operations in the region.
The pocket of Saint-Nazaire, last reduced German in France, capitulated on May 11, 1945, an event marked by reconstructed scenes in the museum. The blockhouse, with 285 m2 and 17 m high, bears witness to the military architecture of the Third Reich. The collections, entirely private, include testimonies filmed by 14 people in 1999, preserving the memory of the civilians and soldiers who lived this period.
The site highlights the strategic role of Saint-Nazaire, a key port for the Germans, and the consequences of the Allied raids. Operation Chariot (March 1942), which neutralized the Joubert form of the port, pushed the occupant to massively strengthen coastal defences, including the Grand Blockhaus. The latter, although never committed, symbolizes the occupation and late liberation of the region, which occurred three days after the German capitulation in Europe.
