Temporary exhibition 1
Love in Wartime
Butterflies in your stomach in the 1940s
5 June 2024 until 30 March 2025
Love and war are intimately connected, and have been throughout human history. When faced with death, both life and love are felt more intensely. World War II influenced the love lives of an entire generation of people. They felt butterflies, as humans do: in bomb shelters, when in hiding, on the front lines or simply on the street. The exhibition ‘Love in Wartime’ will run from 5 June 2024 until 30 March 2025. It will show how people found each other in difficult times, and how feelings can overcome anything. After all, is there a ‘right’ or a ‘wrong’ when it comes to love?
The exhibition ‘Love in Wartime’ shows the war in its most intimate, human form. From a boy who met his first boyfriend during forced labour in Germany to a recently married couple that survived Auschwitz, always looking out for signs that the other person was still alive. These personal love stories often had huge consequences. Examples include the thousands of war brides who travelled to and from the Netherlands, the large amounts of children conceived with allied or German soldiers, the persecution of gay people and the booming amount of love for sale during the war. Adults can even take a peek behind special curtains to see stories about sex during the war and vibrators from the 1940s.
Love in Wartime is a unique exhibition during which visitors are immersed in the atmosphere of a cosy 1940s street, with fully historically furnished rooms on each side. You’ll find a living room behind one door and a hiding place behind another… But the next door might lead to a café where people are celebrating their liberation. This exhibition is an adventure for all ages.
The Freedom Museum shows the passionate story of love using unique gems like sheet music, diaries, love letters and wedding dresses. An intimate exhibition with items that have never been shown before that will make your heart race!
Location: Freedom Museum, Wylerbaan 4, 6,561 KR Groesbeek
Date: 5 June 2024 – 30 March 2025
Information: call 024-3974404 or send an email to welkom@vrijheidsmuseum.nl
Facebook: /vrijheidsmuseumNL, Instagram: /vrijheidsmuseum;
LinkedIn: /company/vrijheidsmuseum
Source photo wedding couple: NIOD (Photographer Oppelaar)