GRUBBY FINGERS' MUSEUM GUIDE
Aviation, Military, Transport and Technical Museums
Atlantic Wall Museum
Atlantic Wall Museum, Oostende, Belgium
Official Website: http://www.raversyde.be/
Here we have one of the most fascinating military museums I have been to. The Atlantic Wall was the concept that Hitler used during World War 2 to describe a series of fortifications along the Atlantic coast designed to deter and repel any seaborne invading force launched from England. It comprised an almost continuous string of gun emplacements, observation posts, bunkers, tunnels and trenches. In the years and decades after the war, most of the fortifications were demolished and the trenches ploughed in so the owners could continue their pre-war lives and the occupation by German forces could be more swiftly put behind them. I beleive that in the area of the musem, however, the owner simply left the embattlements as they were, effectively abandoned. In later years, when the historic importance of this site was realised, the area was restored to its wartime condition and it was turned into a museum.
This means that today you can explore quite a large area of tunnels and fortifications, and view reconstructions of bunker interiors complete with weapons and dummies in uniforms that give quite a complete picture of the workings of these installations. This is an exceptional and moving place to visit.
Image Gallery
Click here to see a photo gallery of my own visit.
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This page was last updated 17 May 2024
