Heritage Days 2026: The weekend program at the Meaux Museum of the Great War

Since its founding in 2011, the Museum of the Great War has taken part every year in the Heritage Days. For this 43rd edition, curious visitors are invited on 19 and 20 September 2026 to deepen their understanding of the history of the First World War thanks to never-before-displayed collections carefully preserved by the museum team.

Through a chronological and thematic tour, suitable for children aged 7 and over, the museum helps us to understand how the world was toppled into this Great War, and how this conflict totally changed the face of the world, with its duration and violence of rare intensity.

• To be read
• Best bets for the week of August 17–23, 2026 in Paris and Île-de-France.

This museum in the town of Meaux is dedicated to the First World War, with some 70,000 historical objects and interactive displays. This extensive collection is largely the result of research by Jean-Pierre Verney, a historian specializing in the Great War. Photographs, statues, military equipment, paintings, propaganda material, soldiers' uniforms... Through its exhibition spaces, the museum addresses the human, military and technical upheavals engendered by this war, from the viewpoints of different nations.

Heritage Days program at the Museum of the Great War:

• Tour of the reserves

  Led by a member of the museum’s conservation team, join us to explore a space normally off-limits to the public: the storerooms. Discover how the museum’s collections are cared for when they’re not on display and learn more about conservation techniques. (Advance booking required, limited spaces)

  Participation requirements: Free | Booking required - https://www.museedelagrandeguerre.com/

  Schedule: Saturday, September 19, 2026 — 10:00–11:00, 15:00–16:00 | Sunday, September 20, 2026 — 10:00–11:00, 14:00–15:00

• Guided Tour and Talk: 'To Your Masks!' Gas Masks in the World War I Press

  How did the press talk about gas masks during the Great War? How did newspapers tackle the scientific, political, and social stakes surrounding these new objects? This conference offers a press-driven history of gas masks, in connection with the exhibition “Behind the Masks.”

  By Laura PENNANEC’H, ECPAD

  Participation conditions: Free | Booking required - https://www.museedelagrandeguerre.com/

  Schedule: Saturday, September 19, 2026 — 10:30–11:30

• Guided tour on war memory: what remains of 1914–1918?

  On the occasion of European Heritage Days, the museum invites you to explore the memory of the Great War through its collections and the way its exhibition spaces are staged.

  Aligned with the national theme, “Heritage in Peril: rekindle, resist, reimagine,” this guided tour, led by a museum cultural mediator, invites dialogue with visitors: what memories of World War I endure? Is the 1914-18 heritage at risk? Is the museum a place of memory as well as a space for display and learning?

  A fresh angle on the museum and on the issues surrounding the First World War.

  Participation requirements: Free | Booking required - https://www.museedelagrandeguerre.com/

  Schedule: Saturday, September 19, 2026 — 11:00–11:45, 16:00–16:45 | Sunday, September 20, 2026 — 11:00–11:45, 15:00–15:45

• A visit to the 'Colors of War' exhibition

  Guided by a conservator from the museum, dive into the heart of the new temporary exhibition, Colors of War. You’ll discover how colors were used and conceived during World War I, as well as the symbolism attached to them by the different armies.

  Through a selection of uniforms, posters, and artworks from the Musée de la Grande Guerre and other institutions, the exhibition reveals how these colors were manufactured, chosen, and applied. You’ll also grasp their strategic role, particularly in the camouflage of aircraft and ships.

  Participation requirements: Free | Booking required - https://www.museedelagrandeguerre.com/

  Schedule: Saturday, September 19, 2026 — 1:00 PM to 1:30 PM | Sunday, September 20, 2026 — 1:00 PM to 1:30 PM

• Visit to the Gas Masks Exhibition

  The museum is presenting a photography exhibition in partnership with ECPAD that documents the use of gas masks during wartime, in both military and civilian contexts. Usually available only for self-guided visits, the museum will offer guided tours of this compelling exhibition during the Heritage Days. (Reservation required).

  Participation terms: Free | Booking required - https://www.museedelagrandeguerre.com/

  Schedule: Saturday, September 19, 2026 — 2:00–2:30 PM

And if you're a history buff, make the most of the JEP to discover other testimonies to the past hidden in Seine-et-Marne.