National War Memorial

The National War Memorial of New Zealand (Māori: Te Maharatanga Pakanga o te Motu) is located next to the Dominion Museum building on Buckle Street, in Wellington, the nation's capital. The war memorial was dedicated in 1932 on Anzac Day (25 April) in commemoration of the First World War. It also officially remembers the New Zealanders who died in the Second Boer War, World War II and the wars in Korea, Malaysia and Vietnam. The war memorial consists of the War Memorial Carillon and the Hall of Memories. The tomb of an unknown New Zealand warrior was constructed in 2004, in front of the Hall of Memories. In the Hall of Memories, Rolls of Honour bear the names and ranks of 30,108 of New Zealand's war dead. Lyndon Smith's bronze statue of a family group in the Hall of Memories is the focal point for the complex. The carillon and the Hall of Memories were closed for earthquake strengthening and refurbishment in 2012. The Hall of Memories reopened in 2015 and the carillon in 2018, but both were closed again in February 2020 for further work and re-opened for the 2026 Anzac Day commemoration. Following the re-opening in 2018 after refurbishment, Wellington City Council reported that there were 60,000 visitors to the memorial per year.