Museum of the Surrender, Museum and historical monument in Reims, France.
The Museum of the Surrender occupies part of the Lycée Franklin-Roosevelt, a red brick building with a grey stone frame around a recessed panel. Above the glass entrance doors, an inscription in capital letters records that the German capitulation was signed there on 7 May 1945 at 2:41. Inside, the ground-floor rooms include the war room kept with its 1945 operations maps.
The building was constructed as a technical school in 1910 and repurposed by Allied forces in 1944 as a military command center. It became the official location where German military leaders formally ended their resistance.
The building was once a school serving the city and holds memories of both its academic past and wartime role. Today visitors walk through spaces that shifted from classrooms to a center of military operations.
The site is easily reached by public transport and sits within walking distance of Reims city center. Allow at least two to three hours to view the displays and read the explanatory materials throughout the building.
The surrender was signed in what had been a school refectory, now called the war room and kept with its maps of the operations of 7 May 1945 and photographs of those present. The German delegation was led by Generaloberst Alfred Jodl, with Major Wilhelm Oxenius and Admiral von Friedeburg.
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