New Museum Of Hitler’s V-2 Is Built On Original Launch Site
Q. A friend told me there is a museum in France dedicated to the V-2 missile, but I cannot find anything about it in guidebooks.
A. The museum you’re referring to, La Coupole, is quite new. Three miles from St.-Omer, 159 miles from Paris, it opened in May on the site built by Hitler to launch his V-2 guided ballistic missiles at London.
La Coupole, the Dome in English, is named for its massive concrete cap fitted to deflect Allied bombs. The museum has exhibits on three themes: the German secret weapons of World War II; the occupation of northern France; and the conquest of space from 1945 to 1969.
Its aim is to remind visitors of past atrocities and the roots of modern technology. The creators of the V-2 went on to design the Soviet Union’s and the United States’ great launching systems.
The section devoted to the German secret weapons program is set in an underground gallery. Visitors are guided by an audio guide that describes how, in 1943, prisoners were forced to build the four and a half miles of tunnels and chambers that made up the bunker, and how it was discovered and put out of action by Allied forces just before it was ready to launch 50 V-2s a day to London.
Even so, V-2s and their early counterparts, the V-1 flying bombs, were responsible for the deaths of 16,500 people, mainly in London and Antwerp.
Beyond the gallery are the theaters where a film, “Hitler’s Secret Weapons,” and a slide show, “Northern France in German Hands,” are shown continuously.
A separate exhibition covers the conquest of space from 1945 to 1969, and models of rockets show the main stages of the U.S. and Soviet space programs from the Sputnik, Mercury, Voshkod and Gemini craft to the Apollo mission to the moon in 1969.
La Coupole, in Wizernes near St.-Omer between Calais and Paris, telephone (33-3) 21.93.07.07. Open daily from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. until Oct. 31 and from November to March 31 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission: $9.75, at a rate of 5.7 francs to the dollar. Children under 16, $7.
Q. We are planning a visit to Belo Horizonte, Brazil, and have been told there is a nearby city called Ouro Preto that has some wonderful churches. Could you provide information and hotel suggestions?
A. Ouro Preto, in the mountains of Minas Gerais, is a scant 50 miles southeast of Belo Horizonte, and is a must-see for anyone even remotely interested in the region’s intricate style of colonial architecture, known here as Barroco Mineiro, the Baroque of Minas Gerais.
Ouro Preto, which means “black gold,” was founded in about 1700 after the discovery of gold and other mineral deposits brought hordes of Portuguese colonists to the area. The rush was short-lived: before the 18th century was over, the mines were virtually exhausted. But it lasted long enough to pour much of the newfound wealth into the construction of several glorious towns, including Ouro Preto.
With its steep cobblestone streets, extravagant mansions, 13 churches and 11 chapels, Ouro Preto is a veritable museum of architectural specimens in the Barroco Mineiro style. The city was proclaimed a historic monument in 1933 and in 1980 was declared a World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO.
It is also the birthplace of one of Brazil’s finest sculptors, Antonio Francisco Lisboa (1730-1874), known as Aleijadinho, or the Little Cripple, because he suffered from leprosy. Examples of his work can be seen throughout Ouro Preto.
The 1765 Sao Francisco de Assis Church, on the Largo de Sao Francisco, was designed by Aleijadinho, who at that point had become so debilitated that, it is said, his assistants had to carry him on their backs and strap his hammer and chisel to his hands. Still, he managed to carve figures of St. Francis and the ornate angel on the ceiling, which supports a crystal candelabrum. The church is open daily from 8 to 11 a.m. and 1 to 5 p.m.
The Church of the Immaculate Conception, on the Praca Antonio Dias, is Ouro Preto’s largest church, with eight lateral altars. It is believed that Aleijadinho’s father designed this church, with its carved angels and cherubs and suspended golden grapes.
Aleijadinho’s tomb and a small museum dedicated to the sculptor are housed in the church. Not far away is the Church of Pilar, on the Praca Monsenhor Castilho Barbosa, with some 1,000 pounds of gold used in its decoration and a starred polygon ceiling.
Ouro Preto has many hotels, including the recently restored, 37-room Solar do Rosario, 270 Rua Getulio Vargas, which charges $135 for a double room with breakfast. Information: (55-31) 551-5200.
The Pouso Chico Rei, 90 Rua Brigadeiro Mosqueira, an 18th-century former school, is now a guesthouse with three rooms with private bathroom ($83 for a double), and three rooms with shared bath ($55). Telephone: (55-31) 551-1274.
The 21-room Hotel Pousada Casa Grande, 96 Rua Conselheiro Quintiliano, is a colonial mansion with rates for doubles ranging from $65 to $81. Information: (55-31) 551-4314.
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