Your story
The Brienne command post was entirely renovated to turn the clock back 30 years to 1985. This underground space inside the Hôtel de Brienne enabled the Minister of Defence and his cabinet to deal with nuclear issues. It is now open to the public, and can be visited two Saturdays each month by the National Monuments Centre.
Our project
Perles d’Histoire completed a total restoration, including existing equipment of the time, to recreate the room which witnessed the former Defence Minister Charles Hernu ordering the lowering of the nuclear missile-launching ‘Inflexible’ submarine. Based on the concept of a period room, and with the help of the Many Many agency, the room was frozen in time, making it possible to enter the intimate Minister of National Defence inconspicuously.
Together, with all of you, we have bet on culture and heritage in the service of a civic spirit. Opening the Hôtel de Brienne to the public is a way of both improving our collective understanding of our history, and the consistency in our institution’s past, and reminding people of current affairs. (…) I’m thinking of the inauguration of the Hotel de Brienne: opening such an iconic place historically emblematic of nuclear deterrence, and give people the opportunity to understand the political dimension of this policy, is a historical first.Excerpt from the opening speech by Jean-Yves le Drian, Minister of Defence
