The Musée Municipal de Vichy, housed in the Hôtel de Ville complex, covers the city's history across several distinct phases: the nineteenth-century development of the spa resort, life under the Vichy regime, and the postwar period. The permanent collection includes fine art, decorative objects from the spa era, and historical documents, but the section dealing with the Vichy government (1940–44) is the most significant part of the visit.
The regime section is handled with unusual directness — not surprising given that the city has made a conscious effort since the 1990s to confront rather than minimise this history. The displays include documents, photographs, and objects from the wartime period, and contextualise the decisions made here within the broader story of French collaboration. It is not a comfortable exhibit, but it is a necessary one, and Vichy deserves credit for maintaining it.