Egypt renovates Rommel’s Cave Museum of WWII in Matrouh

Cairo - 22 April, 2017: Antiquities Ministry, in cooperation with Matrouh Governorate, started the renovation of Rommel’s Cave Museum in Matrouh, north-western Egypt, to be opened for visitors within two months, Head of Museums Sector at the ministry Elham Salah stated Friday.

The museum has been closed since 2010, upon the request of Matrouh Governorate to raise the efficiency of the only museum in the area.

Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, known as the Desert Fox, was a field marshal in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. He used to direct German army operations in Egypt from a cave in the cliffs, overlooking the harbor; the cave was formerly a grain store used by the Romans.

To honor the German field marshal, Matrouh citizens turned the cave into a museum named after him in 1988; and in 1991, his son Manfred donated some of Rommel’s belongings, such as a suave full length leather coat, his compass, his honoring medals and marked up maps to be put on display at the museum.

In 1994, when a thief robbed the cave, the state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram called on the robbers to return the historic artifacts. The thief put them in front of the door of Al-Ahram and saved the museum from being shut forever.