The National Museum of Military History (

Luxembourgish Luxembourgish ( ; also ''Luxemburgish'', ''Luxembourgian'', ''Letzebu(e)rgesch''; ) is a West Germanic language that is spoken mainly in Luxembourg. About 400,000 people speak Luxembourgish worldwide. The language is standardized and officiall ...

: ''Nationale Militärgeschichtsmusée'', , ), abbreviated to MNHM, is a

national museum A national museum can be a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In the United States, most nati ...

Diekirch Diekirch (; ; or (locally) ; from ''Diet-Kirch'', i.e. "people's church") is a Communes of Luxembourg, commune with List of towns in Luxembourg, town status in north-eastern Luxembourg, in the Diekirch (canton), canton of Diekirch and, until its ...

, in north-eastern

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

, that includes amongst its exhibits military vehicles and weaponry, a photographic archive, and lifesize

diorama A diorama is a replica of a scene, typically a three-dimensional model either full-sized or miniature. Sometimes dioramas are enclosed in a glass showcase at a museum. Dioramas are often built by hobbyists as part of related hobbies like mili ...

s displaying military servicemen and actions.

Museum

The museum originally developed out of the Diekirch Historical Museum (opened in 1984), which was primarily dedicated to the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive or Unternehmen Die Wacht am Rhein, Wacht am Rhein, was the last major German Offensive (military), offensive Military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western ...

in Luxembourg in winter 1944–45. The museum is located in the complex of the Diekirch 'old brewery', 200m from the town center. The main topic of the museum remains the balanced and objective historical representation of the military operations in the

Ardennes The Ardennes ( ; ; ; ; ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, extending into Germany and France. Geological ...

from the American,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, and civilian points of view. Over 3000 square metres of exhibition space and numerous lifesize dioramas enable an insight of the dramatic and tragic situations that both soldiers and civilians were caught in. Special showrooms feature extensive collections of weapons, uniforms, military equipment of all kind, wheeled and tracked vehicles, in addition to numerous personal soldiers' belongings, photographs, documents, and maps. The museum's core piece is the detailed mock-up of the night-time

Sauer The Sauer ( German and Luxembourgish, , ) or Sûre ( French, ) is a river in Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. A left tributary of the Moselle, its total length is . Rising near Vaux-sur-Sûre in the Ardennes in southeastern Belgium, the Sauer f ...

river crossing at Diekirch on January 18, 1945 by units of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

5th Infantry Division.Descriptio
here
(The Last Offensive. Chepter VI: ''Bitburg and the Vianden Bulge'', p. 101-106) The museum's

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

collection is regarded as one of the finest of Western Europe. A second part of the MNHM museum is dedicated to the history of the

military of Luxembourg The Luxembourg Armed Forces (; ) are the national military force of Luxembourg. The army has been a fully volunteer military since 1967. , it has 939 personnel. The army is under civilian control of the military, civilian control, with the Gran ...

since the creation of Luxembourg as a state, until present. A number of large-scale dioramas cover key aspects and periods of the Luxembourgian army since the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Other sections are dedicated to Luxembourgers fighting in allied armies in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the

, and during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

missions in which Luxembourg has participated are also covered and special displays provide an overview of daily military life. The National Museum of Military History is a founding member of the Belgian-

Association of the Museums of the Battle of the Ardennes (AMBA) and a European partner of the

National World War II Museum The National WWII Museum, formerly known as The National D-Day Museum, is a military history museum located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S., on Andrew Higgins Drive between Camp Street and Magazine Street. The ...

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, in the United States.

Gallery

Image:Diekirch-Militärmuseum 040.jpg, US - First Aid Image:Diekirch-Militärmuseum 041.jpg, US - AA gun Image:Diekirch-Militärmuseum 042.jpg, US - Bomb Image:Diekirch-Militärmuseum 043.jpg,

Courier A courier is a person or organization that delivers a message, package or letter from one place or person to another place or person. Typically, a courier provides their courier service on a commercial contract basis; however, some couriers are ...

with

Panzerfaust The (, or , plural: ) was a development family of single-shot man-portable anti-tank systems developed by Nazi Germany during World War II. The weapons were the first single-use light anti-tank weapons based on a pre-loaded disposable laun ...

Footnotes

External links

National Museum of Military History official website
Diekirch

Military History Military history is the study of War, armed conflict in the Human history, history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, cultures and economies thereof, as well as the resulting changes to Politics, local and international relationship ...

Military and war museums Museums established in 1984 {{Luxembourg-struct-stub

Museum

Gallery

See also

Footnotes

External links