Alsace - Swords, Nazis and a memorial

30-31 July  On our last two days in the Alsace region we visited three very interesting places.  The first was at Klingenthal where we stopped to visit the Royal Armaments Factory Museum.  Armaments have been made here since 1729 for Louis XV and manufacture closed in 1962.  It was a very well presented display of swords, bayonets and guns.

The detail on these table knives!

We did not realise that the Nazis had an extermination camp in France, here at Struthof which was occupied by the Germans in WWII.  We did not go inside but took these photos in the fog.

Next day we spent a morning visiting the Memorial de l'Alsace Moselle.  This was a large museum remembering the many times that the Alsace region has changed from being French or German.  This happened many times in the lifetime of some people and caused many hardships.  This was a very interactive museum and it was engrossing.  Some photos from the internet:

Stories of people who lived in Alsace through many wars and changes

A replica of an underground fort - part of the Maginot Line

This is a sculpture on the terrace outside the museum (our photo)