"Moselle at War 1939-45" Documentation Centre and Museum (ASCOMEMO)
Devoted to a little-known chapter of French history, this venue run by the ASCOMEMO association combines a museum and a documentation centre on the Moselle during the Second World War. The department, effectively annexed by the Third Reich, went through a singular ordeal: forced Germanisation, forced conscription, expulsions. Objects, archives and testimonies recount, piece by piece, the daily life of the people of the Moselle between 1939 and 1945.
A little-known corner of Moselle history
Unlike the rest of France, the Moselle was effectively annexed to the Reich as early as 1940 and subjected to intense Germanisation. It is this particular history — of occupation, resistance and upended lives — that the museum sets out to convey. The visit reveals thousands of objects and documents gathered over more than thirty years of collecting: uniforms, posters, everyday belongings, archives. So many tangible traces that make real a period national history books rarely dwell on.
A museum with a documentation centre
The venue is not limited to exhibition. Alongside the museum route, a documentation centre offers a substantial holding of books and a reading room, valuable to researchers, students and families in search of memory. This dual vocation — to show and to document — makes the whole a genuine tool for transmission, run by dedicated volunteers who continue the work of collecting and research.
Planning your visit
The museum is in the Moselle, at Hagondange, about twenty kilometres north of Metz and easily reached from the city. As is often the case with association-run venues, opening hours are limited and the documentation centre is accessible only at certain times. The safest course is to contact ASCOMEMO or check its website before setting out, especially to arrange a group visit or an archive consultation.
Infos pratiques
Questions fréquentes
What is the museum about?
To the Moselle during the Second World War, from 1939 to 1945: occupation, forced Germanisation and everyday life in the department, through objects, archives and testimonies.
Is it a museum or a documentation centre?
Both: a museum route and a documentation centre with a collection of books and a reading room share the same theme.
Where is it and how do you visit?
At Hagondange, in the Moselle, about twenty kilometres north of Metz. As hours are limited, contact ASCOMEMO or check its website before coming.
