Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Museum of the General Leclerc of Hauteclocque and the Liberation of Paris - Musée Jean-Moulin was one of the 14 museums managed by Paris Museums. Inaugurated in 1994 in the 15th arrondissement, he paid tribute to Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque (Maréchal de France, military leader of free France) and Jean Moulin (prefect and resistant unifier of clandestine movements). Its symbolic location, above Montparnasse station, marked the place of German surrender of August 25, 1944, signed by General von Choltitz. The museum presented archives, photographs and objects related to the Resistance and Liberation, derived from bequests such as that of Antoinette Sasse, friend of Jean Moulin.

Closed in 2018 due to low attendance (less than 15,000 visitors/year), the museum was transferred to Denfert-Rochereau Square in 2019, in the Ledoux pavilions, near the former HQ of Henri Rol-Tanguy. This move coincided with the 75th anniversary of the Liberation of Paris. The new site, modernized, retains its dual vocation: memorial (terminal of the two men) and pedagogical (research centre with 1,500 photographs and 1,000 books over the period).

The museum was born of two complementary initiatives: the legacy of Antoinette Sasse, demanding a tribute to Jean Moulin, and the Marshal-Leclerc Foundation, which transferred its historical collections there (formerly to Saint-Germain-en-Laye). Designed by architect Jean Willerval, the original building, intended for businesses, also housed a documentation centre accessible to researchers. The district of Montparnasse, dear to Jean Moulin in the 1930s, strengthened the intimate dimension of the place.

Ranked Musée de France, the establishment offered a biographical and military approach through drawings, paintings, and audiovisual archives. The original historians had conducted interviews with Second World War witnesses to enrich the collections. Despite its physical closure in 2018, its legacy continues through the museum-leclerc-moulin.paris.fr site, which centralizes documentary resources.

Collection

Cet établissement est consacré à Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque (général Leclerc, élevé après sa mort à la dignité de maréchal de France), un des principaux chefs militaires de la France libre durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, et à Jean Moulin, préfet et résistant, envoyé par le général de Gaulle pour unifier les mouvements de la Résistance.

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