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Brittany American Cemetery Collection

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  • Brittany American Cemetery: A Landscape of Remembrance

    The Curator’s Collection highlights Brittany American Cemetery, where architecture, artwork, and landscape preserve the memory of Americans who died during the Normandy and Brittany campaigns of World War II. Located at Montjoie-Saint-Martin, France, the cemetery connects the history of the Allied advance in 1944 with the individual lives lost in the liberation of France.

    Established initially as the temporary American St. James Cemetery in August 1944, the site became a permanent place of remembrance. Its rows of headstones, gray-granite memorial, chapel, and campaign maps bring together the military history of the region and the commemoration of those who served. Inscriptions honor the missing, while sculpture and stained glass give expression to sacrifice and remembrance.

    Today, Brittany American Cemetery welcomes visitors to reflect on this history and remember those honored within its grounds. Its care reflects ABMC’s ongoing commitment to preserving commemorative landscapes and historic features for remembrance, interpretation, and public engagement.

This landscape plan reveals how the burial grounds at Brittany American Cemetery were carefully arranged to create a formal and contemplative setting. Its orderly layout, pathways, and plantings demonstrate the important role landscape design plays in shaping the cemetery as a place of remembrance.

This battle map traces the Allied advance from Normandy toward Brittany following the breakout in late July 1944, providing context for the fighting that led to the establishment of Brittany American Cemetery.

Blueprints and photographs of the visitor house reveal how its design evolved from architectural plans into a completed part of the cemetery. Its understated architecture complements the surrounding landscape and contributes to the cemetery’s dignified setting.

This mason’s trowel, given to Brittany American Cemetery, reflects the craftsmanship and care behind the cemetery’s enduring structures and commemorative landscape.

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