Association des musées de la bataille des Ardennes - AMBA

AMBA

( Belgian-Luxembourg ) Battle of the Bulge Museums Association

Association ( Belgo-Luxembourgeoise ) des Musées de la Bataille des Ardennes

Under the original denomination « Association Belgo-Luxembourgeoise des Musées de la Bataille des Ardennes (AMBA) » (in English : « Belgian-Luxembourg Battle of the Bulge Museums Association »), the idea of a new alliance of trans-border cooperation was born shortly.

Thanks to the initial impulse of Mr. Guy Blockmans, key executive of « l’OPT Wallonie-Bruxelles » (Belgian regional tourist promotion office) and on the initiative of the « Bastogne Historical Center » and the City of Bastogne tourist office, represented by its President, Mr. Olivier Delmée, as well as by the « Musée de la Bataille des Ardennes de La Roche » ( Mr. Gilles Bouillon) and the National Museum of Military History in Diekirch, Luxembourg (Mr. Roland Gaul), a first foundation meeting towards the creation of this specific association, was recently held in Bastogne, Belgium.

In a first step, AMBA will comprise all the museums focusing on the « Battle of the Bulge 44-45 » in both Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, as well as the topical study circles, associations dealing with the welcoming of veterans and the tourist promotion organizations of both countries.

The key objective of the association is the cooperation and mutual assistance of the Belgian and Luxembourg museums and the pre-mentioned connected organizations. More specifically, the museums will closely work together in the future on a purely « museum » level (exchange of artifacts, expertise, archives, etc), just as on a promotional level (joint pamphlets, - brochures, -Internet website(s), - tour guides, - historical circuits, - museum passports ; etc) and also on the issue of marketing (« tourist packages ») and cooperation with specialized tour operators. A further sector of mutual cooperation will consist of the joint and coordinated constitution of events’ agendas, commemorative ceremonies, etc.

By closely working together with key associations such as CRIBA/Belgium (Center of Research and Information on the Battle of the Bulge), CEBA/Luxembourg (Circle of Studies on the Battle of the Bulge), the « U.S. Veterans Friends », the military cemeteries in the Ardennes and in Luxembourg, as well as the tourist promotion organizations such as the « OPT Bruxelles-Wallonie » in Belgium and the « Office National du Tourisme (ONT) » in Luxembourg, the new association will also dedicate its efforts in a latter step to prepare the 60^th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge in 2004 and to ensure the continuation of the remembrance of that important event way beyond.

Within the frame of the European- and transatlantic collective memory and in the context of reconciliation of formerly-opposed nations, AMBA intends to closely cooperate in the future with the American-, British-, and German Embassies, as well as with other key associations and thematic museums of those three countries.