Footsteps of WWII · The Netherlands
Freedom Museum (Vrijheidsmuseum), Groesbeek
Museum · Sep 1944 – Feb 1945
The story
Groesbeek stands on the wooded heights south-east of Nijmegen, where the US 82nd Airborne Division landed on 17 September 1944 to cover the Nijmegen bridges from German attack out of the Reichswald. For five months the village was a front-line town. In February 1945 Operation Veritable, the Anglo-Canadian offensive into the Rhineland, was launched from here. The Freedom Museum, formerly the National Liberation Museum 1944–1945, tells the story of the Netherlands from the 1930s through occupation and liberation to post-war rebuilding, and its Honorary Dome lists the names of Allied soldiers who died between D-Day and 8 May 1945.
What to look for
A modern museum building on the Wylerbaan. Look for the Waco glider nose section, the large model of Operation Market Garden, a hiding-place cupboard where visitors can listen to Radio Orange, an air-raid shelter and the Honorary Dome of names.
Plan your visit
Open Mon–Sat 10:00–17:00, Sun 12:00–17:00; closed 1 Jan and 25 Dec. Museumkaart valid; see the website for current prices. Hours can change for events, so check the website before you go.
Things change, so check opening times before you travel.
Nearby sites
- Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery and Memorial · 1 km
- Waal crossing memorial (De Oversteek), Nijmegen · 11 km
- John Frost Bridge, Arnhem · 21 km
- Old Church and Kate ter Horst house, Oosterbeek · 22 km
- Airborne Museum Hartenstein, Oosterbeek · 24 km
- Arnhem Oosterbeek War Cemetery · 24 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.
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