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Key figures

Origin and history

The Alsace-Moselle Memorial is a museum dedicated to the impact of changes in nationality between France and Germany on Alsace and Moselle, including the Nazi annexation from 1870 to 1945. It highlights the mechanisms of repression, the forced incorporation of young people and life under a totalitarian regime. Since 2017, it has also incorporated the history of European integration as a symbol of peace and territorial cohesion.

Located in Schirmeck, halfway between Strasbourg and Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, the Memorial is close to the Natzwiller-Struthof concentration camp and the European Centre of the Deported Resistant. It covered three wars: the Franco-German War of 1870-1871, the First World War (1914-1918) and the Second World War (1939-1945). The museum attracts approximately 50,000 annual visitors, including 30,000 young people visiting school.

Initiated by Jean-Pierre Masseret and supported by regional elected officials such as Philippe Richert, the Memorial was inaugurated in 2005 by Jacques Chirac. Managed by a joint union since 2000, it is funded by the Bas-Rhin Departmental Council, the Greater East Region, and other communities. A new memorial space, paying tribute to the 42,000 Alsatian-mosellan deaths of the Second World War, is planned for 2025.

The building, designed by architects Sylvie de La Dure and François Seigneur, houses a permanent exhibition and temporary events. Past exhibitions include Intoxicated! The youth under the Nazi boot (2023) and the force incorporation in Europe (2012). The Memorial works with institutions such as the ONAC and houses a 60,000-image photo library managed by the DRAC Grand Est.

The Memorial plays a key educational role, illustrating the consequences of Franco-German conflicts on local populations. It deals with topics such as the evacuation of 1939-1940, the nazification, and the return of the (forced) Sudan. Its historical approach extends to European reconciliation, stressing the importance of collective memory.

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