On 7 May,1945, the German High Command, led by General Alfred Jodl, signed the unconditional surrender of all German forces and effectively ended the Second World War. The signing took place in a no-frills war room in a school building in Reims in northeastern France.
Today, the room is still standing and is now part of a museum.
"Nothing has changed in this room. The table, the chairs, the maps...everything is in the same state as it was on 7 May 1945," Marie Lefevre of the Musée de la Reddition, told RFI.
The Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) had their headquarters in Versailles, but moved to the school building next to the train station in Reims in February 1945 to better coordinate the final assault against Germany.
SHAEF remained there until the end of May and according to Lefevre the US army then handed the keys to the war room to the city of Reims.
"At the end of July 1945, the city of Reims officially opened the room to the public," she said.
Lefevre said that for decades, the war room was the only room that was visted.
"It was only in 1985 that it was decided to create a whole museum (called Muséé de la Reddition) around this room. You can of course find objects and uniforms documenting the Second World War in France and especially in Reims," she said.
"But the most important thing to see here is this war room because it is absolutely unique."
