"Rendezvous. France's military in the Palatinate 1945-1999"

On around 230 square metres, the exhibition showed photographic documents and exhibits of the culture of remembrance from private and public collections. Wall banners, digitalised maps, short films and ten audio stations illuminated different facets of the Franco-German past. Contemporary witnesses such as Guy Lesueur and Pascal Herbin, who were both stationed in French barracks in Speyer and still live in the cathedral city today, were among the lenders. They shared their personal memories with the museum audience in audio contributions. Further audio contributions came from guest curator Christian Führer, the former mayor of Speyer Werner Schineller, museum director Alexander Schubert and curator Ludger Tekampe.

The opening of the exhibition was originally planned for May 2020, but could only be opened to the public around a year later due to the coronavirus crisis. At the same time, it was affected by the pandemic-related access restrictions, meaning that the exhibition was extended twice. In total, around 18,000 guests viewed the presentation, including many visitors from France who still feel connected to Speyer today as contemporary witnesses.
"It's not every day that you can exhibit a miracle. There is no other way to describe the rapprochement between the centuries-long hereditary enemies Germany and France after the Second World War," says museum director Alexander Schubert. In terms of European history, the friendship between the two countries is still a comparatively recent phenomenon and anything but a matter of course. "We are therefore delighted that younger people in particular, who only know the events from stories, have come to see this exhibition about the remarkable European work of peace," says Schubert.