The Musée de l'Armée (; "Army Museum") is a national military museum of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

located at

Les Invalides The Hôtel des Invalides ( en, "house of invalids"), commonly called Les Invalides (), is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, ...

in the

7th arrondissement of Paris The 7th arrondissement of Paris (''VIIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''le septième''. The arrondissement, called Palais-Bourbon in a r ...

. It is served by Paris Métro stations

Invalides The Hôtel des Invalides ( en, "house of invalids"), commonly called Les Invalides (), is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as ...

Varenne Varenne (foaled in Copparo, Italy, 19 May 1995) is a dark bay racing trotter by Waikiki Beach out of Ialmaz by Zebu. Varenne is considered to be the best trotter of all time. No other trotter has won so many of the most important races in t ...

and La Tour-Maubourg The Musée de l'Armée was created in 1905 with the merger of the Musée d'Artillerie and the Musée Historique de l'Armée. The museum's seven main spaces and departments contain collections that span the period from antiquity through the 20th century.

History

The Musée de l'Armée was created in 1905 with the merger of the Musée d'Artillerie and the Musée Historique de l'Armée. The ''Musée de l'artillerie'' (Museum of Artillery - "''artillerie''" meaning all things related to weapons) was founded in 1795 in the aftermath of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

, and expanded under

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

. It was moved into the Hôtel des Invalides in 1871, immediately following the Franco-Prussian War and the proclamation of the Third Republic. Another institution called the ''Musée historique de l'Armée'' (Historical Museum of the Army) was created in 1896 following the Paris World Fair. The two institutions merged in 1905 within the space of the former ''Musée de l'Artillerie''. Today, it holds 500,000 artifacts, including weapons, armour, artillery, uniforms, emblems and paintings, exhibited in an area of 12,000 m². The permanent collections are organised into "historical collections", representing a chronological tour from ancient times through the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. In March 1878, the museum hosted an "

ethnographic Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject ...

exhibition", as it was called, which represented the main "types" of

Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of and a population of around 44.5 million ...

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. Dummies representing people from the

colonies In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...

, along with weapons and equipment, were the main attraction. The exhibit, organised by Colonel Le Clerc, attempted to demonstrate theories of

unilineal evolution Unilineal evolution, also referred to as classical social evolution, is a 19th-century social theory about the evolution of societies and cultures. It was composed of many competing theories by various anthropologists and sociologists, who belie ...

, putting the European man at the apex of human history.Gilles Aubagnac, "En 1878, les "sauvages" entrent au musée de l'Armée" in ''Zoos humains. De la Vénus hottentote aux reality shows'', Nicolas Bancel, Pascal Blanchard, Gilles Boëtsch, Eric Deroo, Sandrine Lemaire, edition La Découverte (2002), p.349-354 Parts of this collection began to be transferred to the Ethnographic Museum of the Trocadéro in 1910 and in 1917; the last colonial rooms were closed just after the 1931 Paris Colonial Exhibition. All remnants were transferred after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

Significant holdings

The Musée de l'Armée has identified 24 aesthetic, technical and symbolic "treasures," which are all closely linked to French military history from the late

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

through to

. They include weapons, armour, works of arts and technology.

Main spaces

The museum consists of six main spaces.

Main Courtyard and artillery collections

The Main Courtyard is the centre of the Hôtel National des Invalides and displays a large part of the artillery collections, gathered during the

. The collection traces 200 years of the history of French field artillery and enables visitors to discover how the equipment was manufactured, its role and the history of great French artillerymen. Contains: * 60 French classical bronze cannons * A dozen howitzers and mortars

Armour and weapons, 13th–17th centuries

The Musée de l'Armée has a rich ancient collection, which makes it one of the three largest arms museums in the world. Contains: * The Royal Room: crown collections * The Medieval Room: artifacts from the feudal army to the royal army * The Louis XIII Room: the progress of the royal army) * A Themed Arsenal Gallery * An exhibit on Courtly Leisure Activities (late Middle Ages to mid-17th century) * some rooms of antique and oriental armament

Modern Department, from Louis XIV to Napoleon III, 1643–1870

This department covers the military, political, social and industrial history of France, reliving great battles, exploring the lives of soldiers, and tracing the development of technologies and tactics. Contains: * Privates' uniforms * Luxury weapons and arms * Equipment of numerous French and foreign regiments * Illustrious figures, such as Napoleon Bonaparte and his marshals

Contemporary Department, the Two World Wars 1871–1945

The contemporary department tells the story of the French Army from 1871 to 1945, and the two great conflicts of the 20th century. Contains: * French and foreign uniforms, including some having belonged to illustrious military leaders (Foch, Joffre, de Lattre, Leclerc, etc.) * Objects used by soldiers in daily life * Prestige pieces: marshals' batons and ceremonial swords: * Emblems, paintings and elements from personal archives: letters, postcards, etc.

The Charles de Gaulle Monument

The Charles de Gaulle Monument (''Historial'') is an interactive multimedia space dedicated to the work of

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Governm ...

, the leader of the Free French Forces and founding President of the Fifth Republic. Contains: * The Multi-Screen Room * The Ring: "an overview of the century" projected onto a circular glass ring * The Permanent Exhibition

Cabinets insolites

Three cabinets are dedicated to special collections. Contains: * Artillery models from the 16th to 19th c. * Military music instruments, selected among the 350 of the collection * Military figurines, with 5000 toy soldiers displayed of a collection of 140000 The Army museum is associated with four additional spaces:

Musée de l'Ordre de la Libération

The museum is dedicated to the Ordre de la Libération, France's second national order after the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

, which was created in 1940 by General

, leader of the

Free French Forces __NOTOC__ The French Liberation Army (french: Armée française de la Libération or AFL) was the reunified French Army that arose from the merging of the Armée d'Afrique with the prior Free French Forces (french: Forces françaises libres, l ...

. Contains three galleries: * Free France * Interior Resistance * Deportation

Musée des Plans-Reliefs

The ''Musée des Plans-Reliefs'' is a museum of military models located within the Musée de l'Armée. About 100 models, created between 1668 and 1870, are currently on display in the museum. The construction of models dates to 1668 when the Marquis de Louvois, minister of war to

Louis XIV Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was List of French monarchs, King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the Li ...

, began a collection of three-dimensional models of fortified cities for military purposes, and kept growing until 1870 with the disappearance of ''fortifications bastionnées''.

Cathedral of Saint-Louis des Invalides

Interior of cathédrale Saint-Louis-des-Invalides 002

In 1676, the Secretary of State for War, Marquis de Louvois, entrusted the young architect

Jules Hardouin-Mansart Jules Hardouin-Mansart (; 16 April 1646 – 11 May 1708) was a French Baroque architect and builder whose major work included the Place des Victoires (1684–1690); Place Vendôme (1690); the domed chapel of Les Invalides (1690), and the Gran ...

with the construction of the chapel, which

Libéral Bruant Libéral Bruant (''ca'' 1635 – Paris, 22 November 1697), was a French architect best known as the designer of the Hôtel des Invalides, Paris, which is now dominated by the dome erected by Jules Hardouin Mansart, his collaborator in earlier ...

had been unable to complete. The architect designed a building which combined a royal chapel, the "Dôme des Invalides", and a veterans' chapel. This way, the King and his soldiers could attend mass simultaneously, while entering the place of worship though different entrances, as prescribed by etiquette. This separation was reinforced in the 19th century with the erection of the tomb of Napoleon I, the creation of the two separate altars and then with the construction of a glass wall between the two chapels. Contains: * The Veteran's Chapel

Dôme des Invalides

The Dôme des Invalides is the emblem of the Hôtel National des Invalides and an unmissable monument in the Parisian landscape. Contains: * The Dome Church * The Tomb of Napoleon I

Collection

References

External links

*
Discovering the Musée de l'Armée. Official video
{{Authority control Museums established in 1905

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

Armee, Musee de l Military and war museums in France Armee, Musee de l Armee, Musee de l Armee, Musee de l Armour collections Buildings and structures in the 7th arrondissement of Paris 1905 establishments in France