The German Tank Museum (german: Deutsches Panzermuseum Munster (DPM))
[''Deutsches Panzermuseum Munster''](_blank)
at www.deutsches-panzermuseum.de. Retrieved 11 Nov 2014. is an armoured fighting vehicle museum in
Munster
Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...
, Germany, the location of the
Munster Training Area
Munster Training Area (German: ''Truppenübungsplatz Munster'') is a military training area in Germany on the Lüneburg Heath. It comprises two separate areas with different purposes: Munster North (''Munster-Nord'') (size: ) and Munster South ( ...
camp (not to be confused with the city of
Münster
Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state distr ...
). Its main aim is the documentation of the history of German armoured troops since 1917.
It originated in 1983 from the instructional collection of the ''Panzertruppenschule'', the ''
Bundeswehr
The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...
'' (German Army) school for training officers and NCOs of German armoured units. It is now a museum open to the public, jointly run by the municipality of Munster and the ''Lehrsammlung der Panzertruppen und Heeresaufklärungstruppe am Ausbildungszentrum Munster''. (teaching collections of the armoured combat troops)
The museum site covers an area of over . including of exhibition halls. In 2003 the museum opened a new building for special displays, a museum shop and a cafeteria.
Exhibits
The museum displays tanks, military vehicles, weapons, small arms, uniforms, medals, decorations and military equipment from
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
to the present day. The heart of the exhibition is a collection of about 40 ''
Bundeswehr
The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...
'' and former East German (''
Nationale Volksarmee
The National People's Army (german: Nationale Volksarmee, ; NVA ) were the armed forces of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1956 to 1990.
The NVA was organized into four branches: the (Ground Forces), the (Navy), the (Air Force) an ...
'') tanks as well as 40 German tanks and other ''
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...
'' vehicles from the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. In addition there are tanks from the Soviet
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
, the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
and the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
from the Second World War, as well as other modern tanks such as the Israeli
Merkava
The Merkava ( he, מרכבה, , "chariot") is a series of main battle tanks used by the Israel Defense Forces and the backbone of the IDF's armored corps. The tank began development in 1970, and its first generation, the Merkava mark 1, entere ...
. There is also one Swedish tank, the Stridsvagn m/21-29, a modified German
LK II. Most of the vehicles are in working order, with restoration work ongoing to render all examples functional. The restoration staff of the museum do extensive research on every vehicle in order to return it to its original configuration and paint scheme. The large collection of armoured vehicles includes some rare or unique types. For example, the museum has a replica of an
A7V
The A7V was a heavy tank introduced by Germany in 1918 during World War I. One hundred chassis were ordered in early 1917, ten to be finished as fighting vehicles with armoured bodies, and the remainder as ''Überlandwagen'' cargo carriers. Th ...
German
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
tank, the only example of its type in (continental) Europe, with the only other being at
The Tank Museum
The Tank Museum (previously The Bovington Tank Museum) is a collection of armoured fighting vehicles at Bovington Camp in Dorset, South West England. It is about north of the village of Wool and west of the major port of Poole. The collection ...
. Also, there is an armoured police vehicle from the
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...
era, the
Daimler DZVR 21. In addition it has one of only two existing
Sturmpanzer VI as well as a prototype version of the
Jagdpanzer IV
The ''Jagdpanzer'' IV, Sd.Kfz. 162, was a German tank destroyer based on the Panzer IV chassis and built in three main variants. As one of the casemate-style turretless Jagdpanzer (tank destroyer, literally "hunting tank") designs, it was develop ...
. From the post-war era there is a range of ''Bundeswehr'' prototypes, including a
Leopard 1
The Leopard 1 (also styled Leopard I, before the Leopard 2 simply known as Leopard) is a main battle tank designed and produced by Porsche in West Germany that first entered service in 1965. Developed in an era when HEAT warheads were thought t ...
,
Kanonenjagdpanzer
The Kanonenjagdpanzer (''KanJPz''; also known as Jagdpanzer Kanone 90mm, "tank destroyer, gun 90mm") was a West German Cold War tank destroyer. Its design was very similar to that of the World War II Jagdpanzer IV.
History
The first prototypes ...
tank destroyer and
MBT-70
The MBT-70 (German: ''KPz 70 or KpfPz 70'') was an American– West German joint project to develop a new main battle tank during the 1960s.
The MBT-70 was developed by the United States and West Germany in the context of the Cold War, intend ...
, the abortive US-German design. The interior of a
Leopard 1
The Leopard 1 (also styled Leopard I, before the Leopard 2 simply known as Leopard) is a main battle tank designed and produced by Porsche in West Germany that first entered service in 1965. Developed in an era when HEAT warheads were thought t ...
tank, situated outside, can be entered via a flight of steps and a ladder in the turret.
By its own account the museum does not just want to show tanks as an exhibit of history of technology. With the ongoing reforms it wants to put them in a scientific-historical context. Tanks as technical objects are seen as starting points for broader historical contexts, which the museum wants to the tell of his exhibits in many historical perspectives: as
Social
Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not.
Etymology
The word "social" derives from ...
,
Economic
An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...
,
Political
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...
and
Cultural History
Cultural history combines the approaches of anthropology and history to examine popular cultural traditions and cultural interpretations of historical experience. It examines the records and narrative descriptions of past matter, encompassing the ...
. As an actor in modern military history the museum still includes the old perspectives of the museum: operational history and political history still have their place in the Tank Museum.
The ''Elemente des Krieges'' ("Elements of War"), thematically groups smaller exhibits into four areas or "paths":
* The "Iron" path displays small arms and ammunition from 17th century to the present and focusses primarily on the
history of technology
The history of technology is the history of the invention of tools and techniques and is one of the categories of world history. Technology can refer to methods ranging from as simple as stone tools to the complex genetic engineering and info ...
.
* The "Textile" path displays uniforms from late 19th century to the present; these exhibits focus mainly on
social history
Social history, often called the new social history, is a field of history that looks at the lived experience of the past. In its "golden age" it was a major growth field in the 1960s and 1970s among scholars, and still is well represented in his ...
.
* The "Gold" path presents medals and decorations from late 19th century to the present; these exhibits focus on
cultural history
Cultural history combines the approaches of anthropology and history to examine popular cultural traditions and cultural interpretations of historical experience. It examines the records and narrative descriptions of past matter, encompassing the ...
.
* The "Wood" path displays war toys from 20th and 21st century and primarily concentrates on
everyday history.
Further special exhibits are the
death mask
A death mask is a likeness (typically in wax or plaster cast) of a person's face after their death, usually made by taking a cast or impression from the corpse. Death masks may be mementos of the dead, or be used for creation of portraits. It ...
of
Erwin Rommel
Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel () (15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944) was a German field marshal during World War II. Popularly known as the Desert Fox (, ), he served in the ''Wehrmacht'' (armed forces) of Nazi Germany, as well as servi ...
and his tunic, which was thought to be an original for a long time. The fake uniform is now exhibited with an explanation of how the forgery was discovered and why a museum has to examine its exhibits time and again.
Gallery
File:Leopard Vorserie Prototyp II.jpg, Leopard 1 Prototyp A2
File:Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf. A.jpg, Panzer I
The Panzer I was a light tank produced in Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Its name is short for ( German for " armored fighting vehicle mark I"), abbreviated as . The tank's official German ordnance inventory designation was '' Sd.Kfz. 10 ...
Ausf. A on a turntable
File:Jagdpanzer V Jagdpanther 1.jpg, Jagdpanther
The ''Jagdpanther'' (German: "hunting Panther"), Sd.Kfz. 173, was a tank destroyer (''Jagdpanzer'', a self-propelled anti-tank gun) built by Germany during World War II.
The ''Jagdpanther'' combined the 8.8 cm Pak 43 anti-tank gun, similar to th ...
File:SdKfz182.jpg, Tiger II
The Tiger II is a German heavy tank of the Second World War. The final official German designation was ''Panzerkampfwagen'' Tiger ''Ausf''. B,'' Panzerkampfwagen'' – abbr: ''Pz.'' or ''Pz.Kfw.'' (English: "armoured fighting vehicle"), ''Ausf.' ...
with the production turret
File:Panzerkampfwagen IV Ausf. G 1.jpg, Panzer IV Ausf. G
File:Sturmtiger frontal.jpg, Sturmpanzer VI ''Sturmtiger''
File:Dzvr21.jpg, Daimler DZVR 21 police special vehicle
File:Munster A7V Wotan Seite (dark1).jpg, A7V
The A7V was a heavy tank introduced by Germany in 1918 during World War I. One hundred chassis were ordered in early 1917, ten to be finished as fighting vehicles with armoured bodies, and the remainder as ''Überlandwagen'' cargo carriers. Th ...
''Wotan'' (replica)
File:Deutsches Panzermuseum Munster Halle 2.jpg, Several Leopard 1
File:German LKII light tank, at the Deutsches Panzermuseum.jpg , Leichter Kampfwagen II
File:SdKfz165.jpg, Hummel
References
External links
English language webpageHome page of volunteers of German Tank Museum Munster
{{Authority control
Military and war museums in Germany
Lüneburg Heath
Museums in Lower Saxony
Tank museums
Transport museums in Germany