The National Museum of Congo is housed near the riverfront in a colonial-era building and covers the country's history from precolonial kingdoms through independence and the turbulent decades since. The ethnographic collection — masks, musical instruments, royal regalia from the Kongo kingdom — is the strongest part.
The section on the Free France period (1940–43), when Brazzaville served as the capital of those French territories that had not capitulated to Vichy, is well documented and historically significant. The house where Charles de Gaulle lived during this period is close by and can be visited separately. The museum is modest in scale but worth two hours, and the staff are knowledgeable and willing to explain context beyond the labels.