Liberty Park - National War and Resistance Museum

...The area is called Liberty Park, the museum opened in 1946

==*** Moving on ***==

Moving on to 2007, I visited the small Dutch village of Overloon, The village is situated just off of the main A73/E31 Venlo to Nijmegen road, get off at junction 7, which is marked Overloon the road is called Overloonsweg and follow the signs for Overloon.
On the way into the village, you pass fields and houses, there is not clue ...
.../> I will admit, that Liberty Park is not well signposted. That said I did find it easily.

If you use Google Earth, just type in Overloon Holland, you will get a good idea of where it is situated.

I am not too sure about public transport, I did not see any busses in the area when I went there.



==*** What is it ***==

Liberty Park is the National Museum of Dutch Resistance, ... more

It is 1944, the village of Overloon in the Netherlands where you have lived all your life has escaped the brunt of the war. That was soon to change, first the Americans, and then when they couldn't push the Germans back, the British came in to push the German army back to the Rhine. Between September 30th and October 18th 1944, the peaceful village was shattered, destroyed and changed forever. Many of your friends have been killed, there have been many men from both sides killed, tanks have been destroyed. The battle of Overloon was in fact the greatest tank battle in the Netherland during WW2, and also one of the bloodiest, where some 2500 soldiers lost their lives.

So what do you do. One villager decided that a commemoration was needed, so just after the battle, 15 hectares of the battlefield were bought, burnt out tanks and all. The area is called Liberty Park, the museum opened in 1946

*** Moving on ***

Moving on to 2007, I visited the small Dutch village of Overloon, The village is situated just off of the main A73/E31 Venlo to Nijmegen road, get off at junction 7, which is marked Overloon the road is called Overloonsweg and follow the signs for Overloon.
On the way into the village, you pass fields and houses, there is not clue that anything went on here. - Until that is you approach the village, you start to enter quite a densely wooded area, on the left you notice a green Commonwealth War Graves sign pointing you to Overloon cemetery.

The park is situated just off from the centre of the village, there is a very large parking area outside, which is free!

I will admit, that Liberty Park is not well signposted. That said I did find it easily.

If you use Google Earth, just type in Overloon Holland, you will get a good idea of where it is situated.

I am not too sure about public transport, I did not see any busses in the area when I went there.

*** What is it ***

Liberty Park is the National Museum of Dutch Resistance, also it contains the Marshall Museum.
The museum dedicates itself to the statement that "War should be kept in a museum" Which I think is totally correct.

*** Walking in ***

When you think of the ferocious battle that went on here, it is almost surreal walking into the park, it is so peaceful, trees everywhere, birds flying around, singing, then you see old military hardware dotted about, a tank here, a concrete pillbox there, a Bailey bridge up there! Walking round the park, you suddenly come across a big building, which is the museum.
As you go through the door to the museum, you walk down a wide corridor, on the left are large windows, looking through them you can see part of the museum, this part is dedicated to the battle of Overloon. You then come to the main reception area, here you find the pay desk, shop, toilet area and restaurant.

*** 3 Museums? ***

Although it is one large area, there are a number of parts to site, effectively there are four museums, The Battle of Overloon, the Dutch Resistance, The Holocaust and the Marshal Museum

*** Battle of Overloon ***

This is what started the museum, in this section there are tanks in various states of destruction! There is a massive German Panther tank, which when compared to the tiny British & American tanks, makes you wonder how you would win against it! There are a number of dioramas with various bits of equipment representing how it might have been during the battle.
Around the walls are numerous documents, maps & photographs relating to the events of the battle.
All of the displays in this part of the museum are from items recovered from the battle of Overloon

*** Dutch Resistance ***

There is so much to see in this part of the museum, how the Dutch suffered during the occupation, there are lots of really interesting things to see, the sort of provisions they would have had, the way they had to live, many of the hardships they had to endure.

It to me is not really about the resistance movement per say, but just about the resistance and survival of the Dutch people, through incredible hardships. There are room settings, displays of everyday Dutch life, and how they had to adapt.

The most poignant part for me was in fact totally unexpected - walk around some of the exhibits, you notice a door, this takes you into a chapel, it is really difficult to describe, but there was an almost serene feeling, it was so peaceful. In the middle of the chapel were both Christian & Jewish symbols, with an ever lasting flame burning. When you look closer, you start to notice the floor is laid out to mimic railway tracks. I'm not really an emotional type of person, but I must admit, I really felt an almost sense of guilt come over me, for what everybody suffered.

There are many displays relating to the liberation of the Netherlands, with extracts from British soldiers diaries and personal accounts from the people.

A lot of the signage in this area was only in Dutch, but there was enough in English to help you understand exactly what had happened, and why the British are so revered in this part of the world.

There are also lots of displays of military uniforms and personal weapons in glass cases.

*** Holocaust ***

Moving out of the main complex, you find your way to a kind of bunker built into the sandy hill. I found this had quite a chill to it. This was a part of the museum dedicated (I'm not sure if dedicated is the correct word to use here.) to the millions who suffered in the Holocaust - I was quite a cold experience, the inside of the building is very stark, just the painted concrete.
There were a number of bronze figures of people in distress which you have to walk through, which was quite chilling in itself.

There were many photos and sketches from the death camps, even the prisoners' uniforms. The most chilling though, was the smallest - embedded in Perspex was a piece of skin - hairs & all, with the prisoners number tattooed on.

I certainly thought long and hard about life in general after leaving this building, it was very hard hitting, and depressing that man can be so cruel to man. It was one of those experiences where you just need to sit in the sun and contemplate.
In this area it just didn't seem appropriate to take photos - if you go you'll know what I mean.

*** Marshall Museum ***

Moving back into the main building, close to the pay desk you notice an American Jeep, on board are wax effigies of a number of soldiers, and an American General. It seems a bit odd to have this here, then you walk around the corner, into a massive part of the museum with probably the largest amount of historical military hardware I've ever seen in one place. The majority of the tanks, trucks, guns etc are placed in realistic dioramas.

There is everything from the British Paras landing at Arnhem, the D-Day landings, and so on. There are on some of the displays big red buttons for you to press, the D-Day one is particularly loud!! Basically over the loudspeaker system you get a representation of the noise of battle (best press the button when people next you are not expecting it!)
There are also a number of aircraft hanging from the ceiling, so remember to look up

One thing I have found in military museums is that they concentrate on tanks and big guns, this museum is no exception to this, but what does make it unique are the dioramas depicting the humble supply chain! There are stores lorries, breakdown trucks, cranes and so.
The majority of the exhibits here are American, donated via General Marshall, hence the name of the museum.
Some Vietnam era vehicles also grace the museum. One thing that really did amaze me was the size of some of the trucks.

There is a large section devoted to the Cold War, with a large amount of Russian equipment, from motorbikes, right up to tanks.

Being a Dutch museum, there is also an area dedicated to the Dutch, who were part of the UN/NATO peacekeeping force in the Balkans, and to the Dutch army in general.

*** Other areas ***

The Shop

Here you will find all sorts of military related books, models, DVDs etc. All seemed to be reasonably priced. Although a lot of the books & DVDs were in Dutch, there were quite a lot of publications in English. There were also quite a lot of small kids pocket money type things, pens, pencils etc.

The Restaurant

The restaurant area is quite large, with a very good range of drinks (alcoholic and non - alcoholic) snacks, ice creams and meals. The prices here are very reasonable. Coffee and cherry pie was 3 Euro (it was worth going just for the cherry pie!)
When I was there, at lunchtime they were catering for a group of about 50 people, all had hot food, but there was still lots of room for other diners, and the service was really fast. They have a very nice outdoor seating area, where you can look out over some of the outdoor exhibits.

Generally most of the staff spoke reasonable English. The majority of the signs and information boards are in three languages, English being one! Everywhere was really well looked after, the toilets were very clean.

*** Opening Times ***

The whole area is open from 10:00 - 17:00 September to July, and from 10:00 - 18:00 July & August.

When I went in April, there was no charge to enter the Liberty Park itself, for an Adult to enter the museum, it cost me 9 Euro 50 Cents, which when you consider that you need a good half a day to see everything - probably a whole day if you studied every document, photo and piece of hardware.

You can check out the latest & greatest information at www.libertypark.nl although at the time of writing this review (June 07) the English part of the site is being re-developed.

Liberty Park
Museumpark 1
5825 AM Overloon
tel: 0478 - 641250
fax: 0478 - 642405

Everything is on the level, so disabled access is easy.

If you do go to visit, I urge you to pay your respects at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery just along from the Park (just look for the green sign. There are around 280 interred here - including 1 Dutch person.)

Just outside Liberty Park is the main village of Overloon, here you can find bars, cafes & gift shops.

Thanks for reading this, and enjoy your visit.

Larry 

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