Pierre Rieu Continues To Work on War Museum

Pierre Rieu Continues To Work on His War Museum

Pierre Rieu at the first house build for his experience center   Photo by Harry Heuts  

In a warehouse in Maastricht, Pierre Rieu is working hard to realize his dream: an experience museum about the Second World War. Especially for the youth.

 de Limburger, by Rob Cobben - You have war museums of all shapes and sizes, says Pierre Rieu. And he should know. The 39-year-old son of the famous violinist and orchestra leader has visited many of them. Quite a few. Because he has a fascination with everything that has to do with World War II. But the museum that he and his group of friends – Fifty Shades of Green – have been quietly working on in Maastricht for a few years now is going to be different, he says. Target group: children. Key word: experience.

Rieu: "Of course I don't have a museum background, but I have been working in the entertainment industry for twenty years (he is managing director of his father's company, André Rieu Productions, ed.) and know how to attract and hold people's attention. I use these experiences for this initiative."

He proudly shows a white model with fifteen rooms. Visitors will soon be guided from room to room by a guide. Each stay covers a different aspect of the war. For this, Rieu uses audiovisual productions and characters who played a role in the war. Like the American pilot Charles A. Dimmock. The second lieutenant of the 53rd Fighter Squadron from Pennsylvania was shot out of the sky over the Parkstad on

 November 7, 1944. His remains are in the American cemetery in Margraten. Rieu: "Dimmock symbolizes the fifty million people who died during the war."

Photo by Harry Heuts

Bomber

To increase the experience, technical tricks are being used, such as moving floors. As a visitor, you stand in a bomber to see how the hatch opens underneath you and the bombs fall out. Then all of a sudden you see other planes flying eerily close to you. The décor consists of items that come from the war years and the time of the reconstruction. "We received a lot from a collector from Kerkrade," Rieu says, showing the first house that has been recreated and copied. "But we could still use a lot. So if people still have something from that time and want to get rid of it..."

The story of the resistance is also discussed, and that of the Jews and people in hiding. "It has to be a matter of going through it, without it becoming an amusement park." His experience centre should be ready in two years. "We have been delayed due to corona. Normally we come here every Wednesday with 25 friends and tinker with army vehicles and build the museum. But because of corona, of course, that has not been allowed for a long time. I can work here on my own, but the strength of our club is to do that together. Over the years, Fifty Shades of Green has become a close friend's club with a shared passion. The company is very diverse – from an ENT surgeon and goldsmith to a mechanic and welder. There are also five fathers and sons among them. Really special!"

Photo by Harry Heuts

Fascinated by the war

Pierre Rieu became interested in World War II as a teenager. Primarily through his grandparents. His maternal grandmother was married to a German Jew and was in the resistance. "She is my great hero and inspiration!" His grandfather lost almost his entire family in the camps. At the age of sixteen, Rieu became a guide at Fort Eben-Emael, the former defensive works of the Belgians near Maastricht which was captured by air by the German troops. In 2004 he met Mattie Tugendhaft in Israel. Who turned out to have been helped in the war by Rieu's grandmother in hiding: "Goosebumps to hear this story and discover this connection between our families." Because at the end of the day, when it comes to talking about the terrible war, it's not about material, it's about people, says Rieu. "Mattie's wife Myrna talks about her stay in concentration camps in schools. How her mother died there, but with that had no emotion at all. Because her mother was so bad off that she stopped noticing the difference between life and death. Then it's dead quiet in class."

Ambitions

It will be a private museum, where you can go only by appointment, says Rieu. "In the first instance, we mainly focus on school classes and families with children."

But the ambitions are great. Should the initiative be a success, he and his friends club also want to create a mobile version, which will go all over the world. "But that's something for later..."

The experience museum is currently taking shape in a large warehouse in Amby, next to the office and close to the studio of André Rieu Productions. The visitor centre will be located on the first floor, which has been expanded for this purpose. On the ground floor are various vehicles and other materials from the Second World War which Rieu has collected since he was nineteen. And that collection is large, including a GMC truck (load capacity 2.5 metric tons), a Diamond Wrecker (truck with crane to transport broken vehicles), a DUKW (an amphetical auxiliary vehicle) and an Achilles Tank Destroyer.

And then there are countless uniforms, helmets and other war attributes, which have been stored elsewhere for the time being because of the recent burglaries at some war museums. They're all going to get a place in the museum. As an entourage upon entering, Rieu explains. Because the focus is on the stories that are told and made tangible. "When children come home after a visit and tell them that they had a fantastic day, if they are impressed by all those soldiers who have volunteered for our freedom and realize that we must do everything we can to prevent wars in the future, then my mission is successful..."

 

Rieu shows the mock-up of his future museum. Photo by Harry Heuts

If anyone still has items from the war years and wants to give them up can contact us via info@fiftyshadesofgreen.nl

 

Thanks to John for this translation