December 44 Museum La Gleize

La Gleize, BE

The **December 44 Museum** in La Gleize is dedicated entirely to **Kampfgruppe Peiper** and the battle for La Gleize during the Battle of the Bulge. The museum occupies the building in which Obersturmbannführer **Joachim Peiper** established his command post during the final days of his battlegroup's entrapment, and the **King Tiger 213** tank — the most iconic relic of the battle — stands in the square directly outside. The collection includes personal equipment, weapons, photographs, maps, and documents from both German and American participants. The museum's focus on a single German unit in a single location gives it unusual depth: the trajectory of Kampfgruppe Peiper from its origins in the **1st SS Panzer Division**, through the opening dash of the offensive, the Malmedy massacre, the battles at **Stavelot** and **Trois-Ponts**, the encirclement at La Gleize, and the final breakout on foot, is documented in detail. The museum handles the controversial aspects of Peiper's unit — its record of atrocities on the Eastern Front and the Malmedy massacre — directly alongside the tactical and operational history.