La Coupole - 62570 Helfaut [F]

Situated in the Pas-de-Calais, 5 km from the town of Saint-Omer, LA COUPOLE is a gigantic underground bunker designed by the Nazis, in 1943-1944, to store, prepare and launch the V2 rockets (first missiles to reach the stratosphere), the secret weapon that Hitler was counting on to destroy London and reverse the course of the war.
Musée La Coupole - Rue du Mont-à-Car (D210)- 62570 Helfaut

An exceptional site
It is one of the great relics of the Second World War in Europe, and a History and Remembrance Centre that evokes events that form part of the historical heritage common to all Europeans who today live on a peaceful continent.

A major tourist attraction
It is one of the main museographic facilities in the Nord–Pas-de-Calais.
Presented fully in four languages – French, English, Dutch and German – the discovery circuit, accessible to every curious mind, is likely to interest all generations.

A historical and scientific cultural site
It is a historical and scientific cultural site that analyses the relationships between Science and War, between War and the Image, in order to fully appreciate peace. Alongside its permanent exhibition, each year it puts on a temporary exhibition, in keeping with its open cultural mission.

An educational centre
It is an educational centre, its programme having been designed to meet the requirements of teachers and their pupils. LA COUPOLE has a large educational service that does its utmost to facilitate the preparation of school trips and ensure the pupils benefit fully.

Themes presented:

The Occupation of 1940-1944 in the North of France
In May-June 1940, from the Ardennes to the Somme, raged the main battle that put an end to the French campaign: the implementation of the German "Blitzkrieg", the evacuation from Dunkirk, the exodus of the civilian populations…

Films and photographs of the era enable us to retrace the reality of the "dark years":
the massive presence of the occupying troops,
the problems of daily life,
the resistance of the people,
the Nazi police terror that led to the execution or transportation of thousands of French citizens.

On a replica of the "execution wall" in the Citadel in Lille, there is the poignant letter written by a young teacher of 21; three hours before falling under the German bullets, he declares his belief in a future Franco-German reconciliation.

Symbol of the Liberation, a Citroën "traction avant" is positioned in its historical environment:
the fighting in the summer of 1944,
the destruction that hit towns and villages,
the reconstruction …

The total war (1939-1945): the German secret weapons
The first great rocket in history, the V2.

The peaceful dream of space travel was hijacked during the Thirties by Nazi power. In Peenemünde, von Braun’s men built the first great rocket in history, the V2, a weapon designed to be the instrument of a war of terror against civilian populations.

Through the new German weapons programme, the very nature of a total war is revealed:
the mobilisation of scientists, manufacturers, manpower – in this case prisoners in the Dora camp
and propaganda, the unleashing of methodical military campaigns against target towns.

The "Cold War" and the conquest of space
Models of rockets help the visitor to follow the major stages of the conquest of space.

The engineers at Peenemünde were co-opted by the victors in 1945 (Americans, Russians, as well as … French). They participated in the big military missile programmes of the "Cold War": the rocket, coupled with the atom bomb, became one of the essential bases of the "balance of terror". The same men were also involved in the great peaceful adventure of the conquest of space.

Models of rockets and magnificent images (from the collection of NASA and from Star City in Moscow) help the visitor to follow the major stages in this amazing adventure.