The National War Memorial commemorates all New Zealanders who died or served in international conflicts and peacekeeping operations.

It includes:

• Carillon Tower (1932)
• Hall of Memories (1964)
• Tomb of the Unknown Warrior (2004).

The National War Memorial is open to visitors Saturday and Sunday 12pm – 4pm.

The Carillon Tower is a 51‑metre landmark opened on Anzac Day 1932. It contains 74 bells – the world’s third largest carillon. Forty-nine bells were publicly funded and commemorate First World War individuals, units, and battles. Four larger bells from 1995 mark 50 years since the end of the Second World War.

What is a carillon?

A carillon is a musical instrument made of at least 23 fixed bells. A musician, (a carillonist) plays it using a wooden keyboard with hands and feet.

The Carillon plays during state events and commemorations.

Bells of remembrance (NZ History)

Hear the Carillon

Hear Carillonist Timothy Hurd QSM play the bells in this short video, 'The Carillon - Amaryllis'. 

The Hall of Memories is a quiet space honouring all New Zealand service people who died in wartime.

Inside you will find:

• Rolls of Honour listing the over 30,000 names of New Zealand’s war dead from South Africa, the First and Second World Wars, Korea, Malaya/Malaysia, Vietnam, Timor-Leste and Afghanistan. 
• Twelve small chapels with memorial plaques for the various New Zealand military corps and services.
• Mother and Children, a central sculpture symbolising support during wartime.

Hall of Memories (NZ History)

The tomb holds the remains of an unidentified New Zealand soldier from the First World War. Brought home in 2004 from France, they represent the 9,000 New Zealanders with no known grave.

The tomb’s design features marble, granite, pounamu, and bronze elements, inspired by the Southern Cross.

Commemorative booklet for the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior

Gareth Phipps, ‘Bringing our boy home: the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior, its visitors, and contemporary war remembrance in New Zealand.’ MA thesis, Victoria University of Wellington, 2009 (Victoria University of Wellington) 

Karanga text

A karanga (call of welcome) is engraved around the base, in both Māori and English.

Te mamae nei a te pōuri nui
Tēnei ra e te tau
Aue hoki mai ra ki te kainga tūturu
E tatari atu nei ki a koutou
Ngā tau roa
I ngaro atu ai te aroha
E ngau kino nei I ahau aue taukuri e

The great pain we feel
Is for you who were our future
Come back return home,
We have waited for you
Through the long years
You were away. Sorrow
Aches within me.

This historic organ was gifted by the Military and Hospitaller Order of St Lazarus of Jerusalem in 2007 to mark the 75th anniversary of the National War Memorial. It commemorates New Zealand Defence Force medical personnel.

A sculpture by Paul Walsh honouring medical personnel who served with New Zealand troops. It is based on the service of Richard Henderson at Gallipoli in 1915.

Simpson and his donkey (NZ History)

A garden representing Māori history and the sacredness of Pukeahu. Three large stones symbolise the mountains Taranaki, Ruapehu, and Tongariro. The garden wall includes bricks made by prisoners once held near the site.

A bronze figure of a kuia (elderly woman) calling out in karanga. She faces the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior and Aoraki/Mount Cook.

Location: Western terraces between Taranaki and Tory streets

Opened: 2015

Fifteen sandstone columns represent Australia’s heartland. Red and grey stone bands symbolise the bond between Australia and New Zealand.

The Australian Memorial (NZ History)

Location: Western terraces between Taranaki and Tory streets

Opened: 2017

This memorial acknowledges both conflict and friendship between Türkiye and New Zealand. The design includes stones from Gallipoli beaches and a pine tree grown from seed from the famous Lone Pine.

The Turkish memorial (NZ History)

Memorial text

Those heroes who shed their blood and lost their lives, you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country.
Therefore rest in peace. 
There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side in this country of ours.
You, the mothers who sent their sons from far away countries wipe away your tears, your sons are now lying in our bosoms and are in peace. 
After having lost their lives on this land they become our sons as well.

Location: Western terraces between Taranaki and Tory streets

Opened: 2017

The memorial features intertwined Pōhutukawa and oak trees to show the partnership between New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The tree shapes form the outline of a soldier, representing service and protection.

UK Memorial (NZ History)

Location: Western terraces between Taranaki and Tory streets

Opened: 2018

Celebrates the friendship between France and New Zealand. It features Caen stone from France and an engraved poem by Guillaume Apollinaire – Le Chant de I’Honneur.

The French Memorial (NZHistory)

Location: Eastern terraces between Tory Street and Cambridge Terrace

Opened: 2017

Wreath of olive leaves made from weathered steel that includes poppies and New Zealand plants to show the connection between New Zealand and Belgium.

Belgian memorial (NZ History)

Location: Eastern terraces between Tory Street and Cambridge Terrace

Opened: 2021

Bronze conch shell symbolising Pacific cultures and the service of Pacific Islanders alongside New Zealand forces. It also refers to a conch shell left by Pacific soldiers in the Arras tunnels in France during the First World War.

Pacific Islands memorial (NZ History)

Location: Eastern terraces between Tory Street and Cambridge Terrace

Opened: 2018

A gently spiralling path leads to a granite tablet engraved with a 1943 Anzac Day speech by United States Navy Secretary Frank Knox. The memorial reflects on shared service and partnership in the Pacific.

US memorial (NZ History)

Location: Eastern terraces between Tory Street and Cambridge Terrace
Opened: 2016

The restored 1914 Home of Compassion Crèche building hosts exhibitions, meetings, and commemorative groups. It acknowledges Mother Aubert and the Sisters of Compassion, and their work in Wellington.

• Education resources for visiting Pukeahu (Te Akomanga, NZ History)
• Home of Compassion Crèche (NZ History)
• Crèches and early childcare including the Home of Compassion Crèche (NZ History)
• Home of Compassion Crèche (Heritage NZ)
• Mary Joseph Aubert biography (Te Ara)

Location: Eastern terraces between Tory Street and Cambridge Terrace

Opened: 2019

Outside the education centre is a plaque remembering the 1918 influenza pandemic, which killed about 9,000 New Zealanders.

The 1918 Influenza Pandemic (NZ History)

The design uses the hill’s natural shape, with terraces for memorials and the Carillon as the main focal point. The planting includes:

• Native species such as pōhutukawa, kōwhai, and rātā
• Imported species like Chinese elms and olives
• Seasonal flowers that bloom around Anzac Day and Armistice Day.

Heritage fruit trees near the crèche honour Mother Aubert.

The first plantings at Pukeahu occurred in the 1930s.

• 1935 – Governor-General Lord Galway and his wife, Lady Galway, planted two pōhutukawa trees the base of the Carillon on Arbor Day.
• 1936 – sixteen pōhutukawa trees planted at the Carillon to commemorate men of the HMS Philomel, New Zealand’s first warship, who died during the First World War.
• 1938 – trees supplied by Wellington Beautifying Society planted on the eastern bank of the hill through a government employment scheme.
• 1945 – following the end of the war in Europe, pōhutukawa planted across Wellington, including on Pukeahu, on Arbor Day.
• 1970 - redevelopment of the gardens at the National War Memorial also included further planting of pōhutukawa
• 1995 – a pōhutukawa from Pukeahu replanted outside the waterfront building of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, the new home of the Dominion Museum and National Art Gallery.

Welcoming our Warriors Home - Wellington's Pohutakawa (NZTA)

Living Memorials - Pohutakawa at the National War Memorial

Opened: 2014

Named after New Zealand tunnellers who worked in the French town of Arras in the First World War. The tunnel includes 273 red poppies on its walls.

Tunnelling Company (NZ History)

Opened: 2000

Commemorates Parihaka prisoners held at Mount Cook Barracks in 1879 on their way to South Island prisons. The design symbolises their journey and loss.
Parihaka memorial is on the grounds of Massey University, Wellington campus. For any issues to do with this memorial please contact Massey directly.

Contact (Massey University)

Opened: 1936

A former historic museum building, now part of Massey University.
For any issues to do with this memorial please contact Massey directly.

Contact (Massey University)

Opened: 1911

The last surviving military building in the Mount Cook area. It is one of only three surviving Defence Department buildings of its era – the other two are in Dunedin.

The General Headquarters building (Heritage NZ)

Opened: 1894

One of New Zealand’s oldest purpose-built police stations.

Mount Cook Police Station (Heritage NZ)