The Visitor Centre
The Documentation Centre is open by appointment from Monday to Friday (9am to 12 noon and 2pm to 5pm). Entry is free of charge and includes access to the archives and our collections of photographs, postcards, books, pamphlets and bound collections of periodicals.
The centre offers an international perspective on the Great War, with an extensive library devoted to the military, political and cultural history of period 1910-1930.
- German, British and French reference works,
- Periodicals from all over the world (1914-1918)
- Documents pertaining to the art and iconography of the Great War
- Thematic collections: commemorative practices and monuments, literature, poetry and songs,
- Regionalism, reconstruction, religion…
- Technical documentation and military training manuals, regimental histories
- First-hand testimony from soldiers (correspondence, military documents, private journals etc.)
- Doctoral theses and university dissertations
- Cemetery registers from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Cartographical documents (“French Armies during the Great War”) The catalogue of works available at the Documentation Centre can be accessed below. Works can be consulted on site, by appointment. Loans are not permitted.
The database encompassing the entirety of the museum’s collections can also be consulted on site (sorted by theme, title, author etc.).
Over 9300 photographs taken from the Historial collections have been uploaded to the online photography portal of the Archives Départementales de la Somme
Appointments to visit the Documentation Centre must be made by telephone (03.22.83.54.19). In the interests of maintaining amenable working conditions for researchers, and to allow our curators to prepare the requested documents in a timely fashion, appointment requests submitted by email cannot be processed.
Contact: Tel: 03.22.83.54.19. : 03.22.83.54.19. For further information please contact doc@historial.org