The Atlantic Wall was an extensive system of coastal defence and fortifications built by Nazi Germany between 1942 and 1944 along the coast of continental Europe and Scandinavia as a defence against an anticipated Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe from Great Britain during World War II.
Hitler ordered the construction of the fortifications in 1942. Almost a million French workers were drafted to build it. The wall was frequently mentioned in Nazi propaganda, where its size and strength were usually exaggerated. The fortifications included colossal coastal guns, batteries, mortars, and artillery, and thousands of German troops were stationed in its defences. When the Allies eventually invaded the Normandy beaches in 1944, most of the defences were stormed within hours. Today, ruins of the wall exist in all of the nations where the wall was built, although many structures have fallen into the ocean or have been demolished over the years. [via]
The Atlantic Wall Museum
Atlantic Wall Museum Noordwijk, in the Netherlands, preserves and is housed within a surviving section of the wall, consisting of bunkers, preserved rooms, long sections of corridor and many artifacts. War History Online is proud to present this collection of photographs from the Museum Atlantikwall Noordwijk. Here you can see many examples of how parts of the complex looked before and after renovations to turn it into a working museum. It certainly looks well worth a visit!
The entrance to the complex. October 2004.
The entrance nowadays.
A large landfill of sand.
An easy and nice access.
Dark and gray.
Part of the Museum
Working on the door.
The long corridor
A stairway to a dark place.
A beautiful staircase entrance to the museum.
A lot of graffiti inside.
Pure white.
Damage to some walls
The counter at the entrance
The darkness.
The light.
An audit office with a big pile of sand.
A revamped audit with diorama.
Lots of water on the floor.
No more water anymore, all is clean and dry.
A lot of empty space.
And definitely more densely after.
Raw walls and an empty room.
Walls with gun racks, gas mask cans, helmets and a furnished living room.
Nothing.
Doors.
An aggregate-space filled with debris.
A full aggregate area with aggregate workbench and fuse box
A view-window?
Rushing sea in front.
Second observation room.
They are still on watch.
Sand and barbed wire.
View, windows and mouthpiece.
Nothing here.
‘Soldiers’ are provided in everything they had in 1944.
