Liberation Garden
WW II museum in Leopoldsburg
Did you know that Leopoldsburg and its surroundings form the East Corner of World War II? From Liberation Garden in Leopoldsburg, you’ll find the graves of 100,000 World War II dead within an hour’s walk, bike or drive.
Liberation Garden lets you experience the Second World War in a unique way. Did you know that tens of thousands of German soldiers exercised at the Beverlo Camp while thousands of political prisoners were locked up at the same time? Did you know that between the canals around Leopoldsburg, the Allied liberation threatened to get stuck? That this is why Market Garden, one of the most daring operations of World War II, was launched from here? And did you know that from this region, flying daredevils also killed Nazi Germany?
The WWII Museum brings history close to your skin. You step into the shoes of occupiers, resistance fighters and liberators. You take cover during a bombing raid, sit in the briefing of a famous general and fly along in a Spitfire into the heart of Nazi Germany. For children, there’s an adventurous mission packed with exciting assignments.
In Liberation Garden, you will discover what ordinary people go through in extraordinary circumstances. Moreover, those historical characters themselves tell you their story as soon as you touch their outstretched hand.
In touch with history!
Practical info
INFO ON OUR MUSEUM
Practical info
Liberation Garden can be visited in 4 languages (Dutch, French, German and English). You can use the audio guide, which provides in-depth info on the exhibition and is included in the ticket price. Or you can opt for a guided tour with one of our experienced guides. A guide costs 80 euros for 2 hours and you book at least two weeks in advance.
An average visit to Liberation Garden takes 2 hours.
Opening hours
The museum is open every day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
An average visit takes 2 hours, so best start your visit no later than 3pm.
Closed on Mondays (excluding holidays, bridge days and Flemish school holidays). Open on all holidays except January 1, Easter Sunday and December 25.
Our pop-up summer bar LiBARation will be open during museum hours through October 2024.
The annual closure falls in 2024 from Dec. 2, 2024 to Dec. 20, 2024.
In 2025, we will be closed from September 1 to 21, 2025 and from December 8 to 21, 2025.
Accessibility & parking
Leopoldsburg is very easily accessible by bicycle, car, train and bus. The train station is barely a 10-minute walk from Liberation Garden. There is a Hoppin stop (Liberation Garden) near the museum.
Bikes: at the entrance to the site is a covered bike parking area with some charging stations and a bike pump.
By car: there is plenty of parking available in the vicinity of Liberation Garden. The most convenient parking spots are on ‘Koningin Louisa-Marialaan’ and ‘Merkemlaan’. Parking directly in front of the museum is reserved for visitors with disabilities.
Buses:
in front of the entrance to Liberation Garden is a “kiss and ride” area where visitors can be dropped off and picked up.
View the parking plan for (tour) buses here.
gift voucher
Purchase a gift certificate to visit Liberation Garden at the front desk or order it
online.
You can use the gift certificate to visit the museum, as well as in the museum shop.
Shop
A visit to Liberation Garden is only complete with a souvenir from our museum shop. In addition to our quality merchandise, you will also find books, original souvenirs and the very tastiest local produce!
Rates
| Adults | € 15,00 | |
| Children < 6 years | Free | |
| Children 6 – 18 years | € 6,00 | |
| Students and visitors with disabilities | € 8,00 | |
| Supervisor of persons with disabilities | Free | |
| Teacher’s card | € 7,50 | |
| Liberation Pass | Free | |
| museum pass | Free | |
| Senior citizens (65+) | € 12,00 | |
| Residents from Leopoldsburg* | € 12,00 | |
| Partner of Liberation Garden: | € 12,00 | |
| – Heroes of the Resistance | – on presentation of membership card | |
* Are you in possession of a Leisure Pass, then you get 50% discount on the regular price: 7.50 euros for adults, 3 euros for children 6-18 years. |
||
Group rates (10 people or more)
| Groups ( from 10 persons) Not combinable with other discounted rates |
€ 10,00 | |
| School groups from outside Leopoldsburg 1 supervisor/15 students free access |
€ 4,00 | |
| School groups from Leopoldsburg 1 supervisor/15 students free access |
€ 2,00 | |
Our museum is wheelchair accessible.
There are also 2 wheelchairs available in the building.
Plan your visit
Ticket information
Tickets
Prebook your tickets. . This way, you can be sure to experience everything in the very best conditions and start your visit smoothly.
Advance reservations are not required. Usually you can also buy tickets at the counter at the time of your visit. Preferably pay by Bancontact, Mastercard, Maestro, VISA, Edenred Culture Checks or the Visit Limburg Cheque, but you can also pay in cash.
Individual tickets
Coming alone, with friends or family? Book your tickets online here, so you won’t lose too much time getting started on your visit
.
Groups
From 10 people or more you can visit Liberation Garden at group rate (10 euros p.p.). The group rate cannot be combined with other discounted rates, only with the free rates (e.g. Museum Pass and Liberation Pass).
You can visit the museum in 4 languages (Dutch, French, German and English). An average visit takes 2 hours, so it’s best to start no later than 3 p.m. You can use the audio guide, which provides in-depth info on the exhibition and is included in the ticket price. Or you can opt for a guided tour with one of our experienced guides.
Tours with a guide (ENG, FR, DE) cost 90 euros for the first 2 hours and 45 euros for each additional hour. The maximum group size for guided tours is 20 people. There is no minimum number of people for a guided tour.Booking and canceling a guide can be done no later than 14 days before the visit. After this, there is no refund.
Securing a guided tour or group visit to Liberation Garden can be done by sending an email to contact@liberationgarden.be with the following information:
– Name of group/organization
– (billing) address
– name, e-mail address, phone number of contact person
– Number of participants in rate
– Desired date and time for the visit
– Do you want one or more guides to visit Liberation Garden or do you prefer to visit the museum with the audio guide?
Schools and Youth Associations
School and youth groups are welcome to visit during the museum’s regular opening times on Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm, including public holidays. The museum provides tour guides for all school and youth groups. Guided tours take 2 hours, so please plan for your visit to start at no later than 3 pm. Tours with a guide (ENG, FR, DE) cost 90 euros for the first 2 hours and 45 euros for each additional hour. The maximum group size for guided tours is 20 people. There is no minimum group size. You can book and cancel a guide at the latest 14 days before the visit. After this, there is no refund.
Youth group participants between the ages of 6 and 18 years can purchase tickets for 6 euros per person. The rate for school groups from outside Leopoldsburg is 4 euros per person (for school groups from Leopoldsburg, the rate is 2 euros per person). This rate includes 1 accompanying adult per 15 pupils/youth group members. Additional companions pay the same rate as the youth.
Booking a visit with a youth group can be done by sending an email to contact@liberationgarden.be with the following information:
– Name of school/youth association
– billing address
– name, e-mail address, phone number of contact person
– Number of students
– Number of supervisors
– age of students
– Desired date and time
Liberation Pass
This pass costs € 35 and allows one year of admission to our museum during opening hours.
Volunteers and Guides
Liberation Garden is always looking for enthusiastic volunteers and guides. Call +32 11 29 38 00 or email to
contact@liberationgarden.be
for more info.
Which tour can you choose?
Liberation Garden tour: 80 euros/guide (2 hours)
Discover the stories of ordinary people in the extraordinary circumstances of World War II: occupiers, resistance fighters and liberators.
Tour of military cemeteries: 80 euros/guide (2 hours)
Walk among the soldiers who never returned home. Behind the silence of each tombstone screams a story. Of loves and of dreams. Of war rumors and abrupt endings.
Liberation Garden tour (2h) + military cemeteries (1h): 120 euros/guide (3 hours)
Walk garrison town of Leopoldsburg: 80 euros/guide (2 hours)
It all began with King Leopold I and the construction of The Camp. But Leopoldsburg has lived at the rhythm of war and peace for two centuries. This walk will help you discover the Camp’s rich military heritage from then to now. March among the soldiers, their buildings and their stories and experience the Camp where you can still smell the gunpowder fumes.
Bus tour active military camp: 80 euros/guide (2 hours).
War is sadly of all times. But how do you prepare for it? Take a unique look behind the scenes of the largest army camp in our country and feel the ground tremble beneath you. The tour is only possible with a private bus in which there is still a place for our guide and must be requested at least a month in advance.
THE MUSEUM
What is liberation garden?
Liberation Garden is a museum in Leopoldsburg about World War II that brings to life the period 1940-1945 in a very contemporary and multimedia way.
Liberation Garden brings the war close to your skin. No wonder: within an hour’s walk, bike and drive of the museum, some 100,000 soldiers from a dozen countries are buried.
liberation Garden
Liberation Garden literally and figuratively puts you ‘in touch with history’!
liberaation Ga
Liberation Garden immerses you in the harsh Nazi occupation and long-awaited liberation. At the Leopoldsburg camp, the Nazi regime trained countless German soldiers. At the same time, people who oppose the regime are imprisoned and taken to concentration camps. In the run-up to liberation, the camp was heavily bombed in May 1944 and civilians also lost their lives. In September 1944, the liberation of Western Europe unexpectedly stalled by fierce German resistance between the canals around Leopoldsburg. Field Marshal Montgomery devises a daring plan to bring the Nazi regime to its knees: Operation Market Garden. The plan fails. The civilian population yearns for freedom. Will the tide finally turn?
In Liberation Garden, the focus is on the stories of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. You step into the shoes of occupiers, resistance fighters and liberators, you suddenly have to take cover during a bombing, and are in the middle of briefing a famous general. To top it off, you can fly aboard a genuine Spitfire in our thrilling virtual reality experience. For children, there’s an adventurous mission packed with exciting assignments. And young and old meet historical characters who tell their story when you touch their hand. In touch with history!
Support US
Become a friend of Liberation Garden
Support our museum, buy a Liberation pass!
A Liberation Pass costs € 35 per year and gives you unlimited visits to the museum during opening hours and free entry to all our museum events.
Make a donation
You can also support us by making an individual or corporate donation or by leaving a gift to the museum in your will. For more information, please contact us:contact@liberationgarden.be.
Contact us
