194419–25 August 1944 · Paris

Liberation of Paris

Crowds line the Champs-Élysées as Leclerc's armoured division passes the Arc de Triomphe, 26 August 1944 — Archival image: Jack Downey, U.S. Office of War Information. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

As Allied armies approached, Paris police and Resistance fighters rose against the German garrison on 19 August and fought from barricades for six days. General Leclerc's French armoured division entered the city on 24 August, the German commander surrendered the next day, and Charles de Gaulle spoke at the Hôtel de Ville. Paris escaped the destruction Hitler had demanded.

Sites

Site 1: Musée de la Libération de ParisResistance leader Rol-Tanguy's command post, 20 metres under Place Denfert-Rochereau.Map ↗
Site 2: Hôtel de VilleThe city hall where de Gaulle spoke to the crowds on 25 August.Map ↗
Site 3: Préfecture de Police, Île de la CitéPolice headquarters where the rising began, with plaques to those killed.Map ↗

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