Surrender 45

80 years ago, history was written near Lüneburg. On 3 and 4 May 1945, a German delegation met with British commanders in the Villa Häcklingen and on the Timeloberg. The meeting culminated with the Germans signing the unconditional surrender of the Wehrmacht forces in North-West Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands. For a brief moment, Lüneburg became the focus of global attention. With this partial capitulation, the military defeat of Nazi Germany was officially acknowledged for the first time. Only a few days later, the total surrenders at Reims and Berlin-Karlshorst followed – and with them, the end of the Second World War in Europe.

The exhibition traces the surrender negotiations between the German delegation led by Grand Admiral von Friedeburg and British Field Marshal Montgomery. Original photographs, film footage, and scenographic reconstructions of the key locations render the historical events understandable and spatially tangible.

The world turned its eyes on Lüneburg. The “Surrender in the Luneburg Heath” became a global news story through press photos, newsreels, and radio broadcasts. The exhibition shows how Field Marshal Montgomery, conscious of the historic nature of the moment, deliberately used the power of imagery to stage the act of surrender as a media spectacle.