Open house days
On the walls of the charming medieval town of Turckheim, nothing recalls the terrible battle that unfolded here at the end of the Second World War.
Turckheim is yet in the heart of the "Colmar Pocket" last German stronghold in the country. Mulhouse south of Strasbourg, the crest of the Vosges to the Rhine, on a front of 160 kms, fighting raged from November 1944 to February 1945 devastated the plain of Alsace and its foothills. Alsatian population, waiting for 4 years his release, had to exercise patience and sacrifice during these three months of fierce fighting with polar temperatures.
In the cellar of the eighteenth century which served as shelter for the inhabitants of Turckheim for ten weeks, without water or electricity, even lying on the ground today is a unique museum in Alsace, dedicated to the memory of the liberation of Colmar pocket and all those who participated.
From a project dating back to 1988 (the association "memories and respect for Fight for Freedom - Colmar Pocket - Winter 44/45" and founded by young people interested in history) Memorial Museum was inaugurated on November 11, 1993 and extended in 2001.
It now has two exhibition halls with a total area of 300 sqm.Museum peace more than war, the famous place the memory of all the civilian and military victims, regardless of their camp, the name of a single value, that of the word FREEDOM.
It presents the testimony of several months of hell around Colmar, through the actors of this confrontation and military equipment of the time.
By its theme, it is unique in Alsace.The Memorial Museum has a wonderful collection of objects (such as this authentic uniform Marshal Lattre), aeronautical equipment and weapons more diverse, highlighted by thematic displays.
Almost all of the exhibits is known and can reproduce with great precision the history of each object.The life of the combat soldier is mentioned in faithful reconstructions to reality in less detail. Numerous photos and posters, as well as a period piece complete exposure and review all stages of the battle, not to mention the fate of the civilian population.
The Battle of the Memorial Museum of the Colmar Pocket has a mission to be an educational and cultural vehicle capable of transmitting to the youth of today and the future a page of our regional history and our national heritage. It welcomes in this regard every year many school groups.
