Station Montparnasse

When general Leclerc, commander of the 2nd French Armoured Division, arrived in Paris on 25 August 1944, he installed his headquarters at Montparnasse train station. This was a secure place with functioning communication lines. In the afternoon the commander of the German garrison of the Paris District, Lieutenant-General Choltitz, was captured at his headquarters in Hotel Meurice in the Rue de Rivoli. The capitulation was signed at the Police Department on the Île de la Cité. After that, Choltitz was taken to the railway station to sign the surrender of all German forces under his command. General Leclerc signed on behalf of the Provisional Government of the French Republic. A copy was signed by Colonel Rol-Tanguy, leader of the French Forces of the Interior (FFI).

On the promenade above the Montparnasse station one can find «the Museum of Général Leclerc de Hauteclocque and Liberation of Paris - Jean Moulin Museum». Visitors can relive the liberation of the capital through the projection of image archives. Two separate exhibitions retrace the paths of Philippe Leclerc and Jean Moulin, head of the National Council of Resistance. The latter was arrested, tortured and killed in 1943. Personal objects and documents illustrate their careers and their work. Temporary exhibitions are held regularly.