West Flanders
In 2005, the concrete launch pad of a German V1 launch base from the Second World War was found in the Vrijbos in Houthulst.
World War II
Explore key World War II sites across Europe, from historic battlefields to poignant memorials.
- 68 destinations
Hauts-de-France
Hidden deep in the forests of the French town of Eperlecques, the German army built an assembly and launch base for V2 rockets during the Second World War.
Schleswig-Holstein
In 1876, German industrialist Max Duttenhöfer founded the explosives factory "Düneberger Pulverfabrik" near the German city of Hamburg, where gunpowder and other explosives were produced during both world wars.
Rügen
In 1935, Adolf Hitler gave the go-ahead for the construction of a megalomaniac holiday colony in Prora on the German island of Rügen.
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
From 1936 onwards, hundreds of scientists, engineers and technicians settled in the German fishing village of Peenemünde on the Baltic Sea to develop and test the V2 rocket.
Berlin
In 1936, just before the Second World War broke out, Germany organized the Summer Olympics in Berlin.
Normandy
On June 6, 1944, Allied troops landed on the coasts of Normandy. D-Day marked the downfall of the Nazi Empire and the end of World War II.
Hauts-de-France
Wissant, a seaside resort between the rocky capes of Cap Gris-Nez and Cap Blanc-Nez, has been inundated with tourists since the late nineteenth century. The dunes teem with holiday homes and villas in Art Deco style, such as Villa Le Typhonium. However, during the Second World War, sun worshippers were not welcome at the beach of Wissant.
Berlin
In Karlshorst, deep in the east of Berlin, the signing of the capitulation by Germany meant the end of the Second World War.
Berlin
In 1937, architect Albert Speer unveiled his plans for converting Berlin into Welthauptstadt Germania. In his imagination, the new Berlin was teeming with ostentatious monuments that kept pace with the megalomania of the Third Reich.
Latest from the blog
Eighty years ago, the world witnessed the fall of Berlin—and with it, the end of the deadliest conflict in human history. On May 8, 1945, Victory in Europe (VE) Day marked the official surrender of Nazi Germany.
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