[1][2] The museum is housed in the fully restored Fort Thüngen, built by the Austrians in 1732 to reinforce the Fortress of Luxembourg.

[3] As a consequence of the 1867 Treaty of London, most of the building was demolished apart from its three rounded turrets, colloquially known as Dräi Eechelen (Luxembourgish) or Les Trois Glands (French), meaning "The Three Acorns".

[4] In 1996, the Luxembourg authorities approved the development of a so-called Musée de la Forteresse (Fortress Museum) in Fort Thüngen with a view to "illustrating and explaining the nature of the fortress of Luxembourg in regard to the history of the city, the territorial development of the country and the cultural identity of the nation".

[6] Some 600 artefacts in the permanent exhibition illustrate the history of the city and country of Luxembourg from the Burgundian conquest in 1443 to the construction of the Adolphe Bridge in 1903.

They are exhibited in a series of casemates (or underground galleries), six of which cover specific periods from the medieval fortress (1443-1643) to the height of the city's development (1883-1903).