Brûly-de-Pesche
From 6 June to 28 June 1940, the area around Place Saint-Méen in Brûly-de-Pesche was chosen as the site for Adolf Hitler’s General Headquarters, enabling the Führer to carry out the second phase of the French campaign.
L’auberge (the inn)
At the time, the auberge (the inn), which is now the ticket office, consisted of a main building and a barn. The premises were converted into a Nazi Press House by the Germans and run by an SS general. It was used for all communication-related tasks, such as sending and receiving telegrams and letters, and for telephone communications.
The school
Before it was requisitioned, this building housed the school and the home of the teacher, Mme Valentin-Dardenne.
Work was carried out to transform the classroom into a map room, containing, as its name suggests, maps displayed on the walls or spread out on the tables. These maps were used by Hitler and his generals to determine the military strategy for the second phase of the French campaign.
The presbytery
It was here that the Todt Organisation set up accommodation for the senior officers and private aides-de-camp of the Führer and the generals.
Colonel Schmundt, head of all the aides-de-camp, lived here. Captain Nicolas von Below, the aide-de-camp for the Luftwaffe. Commander Karl von Puttkamer, aide-de-camp to the Kriegsmarine. Or Captain Gerhard Engel, aide-de-camp for the army.
The church
Deprived of natural light, the church was transformed into a private projection room for Hitler. It was here that the Führer viewed all military newsreels to ensure that they were in line with Nazi propaganda and ideology.
It was also here, in this church, that the texts of the conditions for peace were translated into French by candlelight.
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