Musée du Mur de l'Atlantique - Batterie Todt

Museum in Calais

CC BY-SA 2.0 / Deep darkness

The Musée du Mur de l'Atlantique – Batterie Todt is a fascinating World War II museum located in Audinghen, near Cap Gris-Nez, France. It is housed within Turm I, one of the massive bunkers that formed part of the Batterie Todt, a coastal artillery battery built by Nazi Germany in 1940. The battery was strategically positioned at the narrowest point of the English Channel, allowing its 380mm naval guns to fire across to the British coast. The museum provides a deep dive into the history of the Atlantic Wall, the extensive fortifications constructed by the Germans to defend against Allied invasions.

Inside the museum, visitors can explore the original firing chamber, which has been transformed into an exhibition space. The collection includes uniforms, weapons, ammunition, photographs, and even vehicles used during the war. A walkway has been built to allow visitors to safely navigate the enormous bunker, which has a 29-meter diameter firing chamber and an 11-meter-high ceiling. The museum also showcases the life of German soldiers stationed at the battery, with displays detailing their daily routines and the construction of the fortifications by Organisation Todt, the Nazi engineering group responsible for building the Atlantic Wall.

One of the most impressive exhibits outside the museum is the Krupp K5 railway gun, a massive 280mm artillery piece used by the Germans during the war. The museum also features scale models of the Batterie Todt bunkers, allowing visitors to understand the sheer scale of these fortifications. The site is privately owned and has been carefully preserved to offer an authentic experience of wartime history. The museum provides a unique perspective on the German coastal defenses and their role in the conflict.

The Musée du Mur de l'Atlantique - Batterie Todt appears in our Complete Guide to Visiting Calais!

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