The origin of the residence of Compiègne merges with that of the monarchy and goes back to the Merovingian dynasty. King Charles V, Louis XV and Napoleon I all participated in the expansion of the castle. It welcomed the second wife of Napoleon, the Archduchess Marie-Louise of Austria, in 1810. After the fall of the imperial regime in 1870, the castle of Compiegne became a national museum. A policy of restitution of the historic states is conducted there since 1945.