Footsteps of WWII · Paris, Champagne & Alsace
Reims Surrender Museum (Musée de la Reddition)
Headquarters · 7 May 1945
The story
In 1945 a technical school in Reims, today the Lycée Franklin-Roosevelt, was Eisenhower's forward headquarters (SHAEF). At 02:41 on 7 May 1945, in the map room, General Alfred Jodl signed the unconditional surrender of all German forces, with Admiral von Friedeburg and Major Wilhelm Oxenius. General Walter Bedell Smith signed for the Allies, Soviet General Ivan Susloparov signed on his own initiative without Moscow's approval, and French General François Sevez signed as a witness. Stalin insisted on a second signing in Berlin, so the official date of capitulation remained 8 May. The museum opened in 1985.
What to look for
The war room is preserved as it was on 7 May 1945, its walls still covered with the operations maps, with the table where the surrender was signed. Other rooms show a film in four languages, uniforms, medals and newspapers of the day.
Plan your visit
Not verified in October 2026 (city museum site unreachable). Address: 12 rue Franklin Roosevelt, Reims. Check the website before you go.
Things change, so check opening times before you travel.
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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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