After World War II, the fortress was used by the French Army, before it was handed over to the State of Rhineland-Palatinate in 1947. In 1946–1950 it served as a refugee camp and then as residential housing, during the period of housing shortages from the early 1950s into the 1960s. In 1952, a youth hostel was opened, followed by a museum in 1956. In 1972, the "Ehrenmal des Deutschen Heeres" (a memorial to the dead of the German army) was inaugurated. In 2011, Festung Ehrenbreitstein was part of the "Bundesgartenschau" (National Garden Show) in Koblenz, following a multi-year restoration in 2007–2011.