Atmospherically located in the underground network of tunnels under the town, the Musée Somme 1916 in the town of Albert provides an enthralling and thought-provoking re-creation of trench life in the Somme battlefields during World War I.
Ten metres below ground, the museum brings history vividly to life through dioramas, photographs and displays of weapons and artefacts. The stunningly realistic re-creations of trenches convey how it must have been to live in the mud and cold amidst fleas and rats, often sleepless and surrounded by corpses. Sound-and-light effects communicate the experience of being in a trench at night under full enemy fire. There’s also a Heroes Gallery focusing on nine people who played a significant role in the Somme.
Occupied in 1914 then evacuated after the First Battle of the Marne, Albert itself suffered many attacks. During the Battle of the Somme, it was used a military hub and came out of World War I in ruins. Hundreds of Art Deco facades testify to its reconstruction in the 1920s. But that wasn’t the end of the town’s wartime suffering – the tunnels now housing the Musée Somme 1916 were requistioned as air-raid shelters in 1938.
Musée Somme 1916
rue Anicet Godin
80300 Albert
Tel : + 33 (0)3 22 75 16 17
web: www.musee-somme-1916.eu/
