Footsteps of WWII · Berlin & eastern Germany
Bundeswehr Military History Museum, Dresden
Museum · 13 Feb 1945 (museum reopened Oct 2011)
The story
Germany's national military museum occupies an arsenal built in 1873–1876 in Dresden's Albertstadt garrison quarter. When it reopened in October 2011, Daniel Libeskind had driven a steel and glass wedge through the old façade. Its tip points towards the former stadium in the Ostragehege, where RAF Pathfinders dropped the target markers for the bombing of 13 February 1945, and the wedge echoes the shape of the bombers' approach over the city. Rather than a parade of weapons, the museum asks about the causes and human cost of war, with strong sections on the Wehrmacht, the Holocaust and the bombing war.
What to look for
From outside, Libeskind's wedge splitting the neo-classical arsenal. Inside, a chronological route and themed displays in the wedge; climb to its viewing platform 29 metres up and look along the line to the marker point. Special exhibition 'WUNDERWAFFEN' runs to 9 March 2027.
Plan your visit
Thu–Tue 10:00–18:00, Mondays until 21:00; closed Wednesdays and 24–26, 31 Dec and 1 Jan. Adults €5 (combined ticket €7); under-18s free. Allow at least three hours.
Things change, so check opening times before you travel.
Nearby sites
- Dresden Frauenkirche and the 1945 bombing · 3 km
- Colditz Castle · 67 km
- Terezín Memorial · 69 km
- Torgau: the Elbe Day meeting · 75 km
All 160 sites in Footsteps of WWII →
Footsteps of WWII: Europe 1939–1945
A free field guide for your phone: the route, the maps and the stories built in, even with no signal. The whole Second World War in Europe, from the first shots at Westerplatte on 1 September 1939 to the German surrender in May 1945: Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain, Normandy, Arnhem, Bastogne, Stalingrad, Berlin and the camps, in 15 areas from Britain to Russia.
Open the guide