Museum Huertgen Forest 1944 and in Peacetime

The Battle of Huertgen Forest in the autumn and winter of 1944 took the lives of thousands of American and German soldiers. But not only these young men suffered. Villages, farmland and forest were utterly destroyed. The Museum Huertgen Forest 1944 and in Peacetime (Museum Hürtgenwald 1944 und im Frieden) therefore not only pays attention to the military confrontations, but also to the plight of the local population during and after the battle. When the evacuated inhabitants returned to their homes they saw the labour of generations annihilated. During the summer of 1945 forest fires burned for months and spontaneous explosions of unspent ammunition claimed the lives of many men, women and children. But with courage and dedication the local population took on the daunting task of rebuilding their lives and their land from scratch. For the purpose of remembrance and warning the voluntary run Museum Huertgen Forest 1944 and in Peacetime (Museum Hürtgenwald 1944 und im Frieden) shows photos, documents and military artefacts to tell the story of the battle and its sad consequences. The museum is run by volunteers. Almost all objects shown were collected in the Huertgen Forest area after the war.