Lümmel's World War 2 museum!

Hello Folks, yesterday i was visiting the "Panzermuseum" in Munster, Germany.
Since my visit was truely astonishing, i thought i'm going to share my experience with you.

I plan on giving some selfmade "high quality" pics (Canon EOS 1100 for those who care), and complete each post with some further information.

This will be an introduction post, and im going to complete in the progress, which exhibition piece can be found on what page. Mainly, since the museum is located in Germany, I'm going to review German tanks and gear.

If you like my work, this thread will contain several pages. Of course it is appreciated to post comments, thoughts and so on... :-)

All in all i can say that i would definitely recommend going to some kind of tank museum for everyone who is anyhow intrested in WW2. These tanks and all the gear look twice as cool in real life as they already do in the photos.

You can also comment which one of the "in the making..." posts you'd like to see next!


Exhibition pieces so far:

The beginnings of German tanks:

Sturmpanzerwagen A7V ---------------------------- - Page 1 #3 Click
Leichter Kampfwagen 2 "LK 2" -------------------- - Page 1 #4 Click

WW2 German tanks:

Panzerkampfwagen 38 (t) -------------------------- - Page 2 #21 Click
Panzerkampfwagen 1 Ausführung A "Panzer 1" - Page 1 #6 Click
Panzerkampfwagen 3 Ausführung M "Panzer 3" - Page 1 #8 Click
Panzerkampfwagen 4 Ausführung G "Panzer 4" - Page 2 #25 Click
Panzerkampfwagen 5 Ausführung A " Panther " - Page 3 #60 Click
Panzerkampfwagen 6 "Tiger 1" -------------------- - Page 3 #44 Click
Panzerkampfwagen 6 "Tiger 2" "Königstiger" -- - Page 4 #80 Click
Jagdpanzer 38(t) "Hetzer" -------------------------- - Page 2 #22 Click
Jagdpanzer 4 ------------------------------------------ - Page 3 #53 Click
Jagdpanzer 5 "Jagdpanther" ----------------------- - Page 4 #71 Click

Sturmgeschütz 3 Ausführung G "StuG 3" --------- - Page 2 #28 Click
Sturmpanzer 4 "Brummbär" ------------------------- - Page 3 #57 Click
38-cm-Sturmmörser Tiger "Sturmtiger" ----------- - Page 3 #64 Click
15-cm-sFH 18/1 auf GW 3/4 (Sf) "Hummel" ------ - Page 3 #56 Click


WW2 German gear, vehicles:

3,7 cm PaK 35 ------------------------------------------ - Page 1 #10 Click
7,5 cm PaK 40 ------------------------------------------ - Page 1 #11 Click
7,5 cm Infanteriegeschütz 37 ----------------------- - Page 2 #27 Click
8,8 cm Flak ---------------------------------------------- - Page 2 #34 Click
8,8 cm PaK 43/41--------------------------------------- - Page 4 #79 Click

Volkswagen Typ 166 "VW Schwimmwagen" ------- - Page 1 #12 Click
Zündapp KS 750 ---------------------------------------- - Page 1 #13 Click
Sd.Kfz. 234/4 "PaK Wagen" -------------------------- - Page 2 #37 Click
Sd.Kfz. 251/9 -------------------------------------------- - Page 3 #46 Click
PKW Volkswagen Typ 82 "VW Kübelwagen" ------ - Page 2 #26 Click
Kleines Kettenkraftrad "Kettenkrad" --------------- - Page 4 #61 Click
Leichter Sprengladungsträger "Goliath" ----------- - Page 3 #51 Click
Raupenschlepper OST "RSO PaK 40" --------------- - Page 4 #66 Click

WW2 Allied Tanks:

SU 100 --------------------------------------------------- - Page 1 #14 Click
T34/85 --------------------------------------------------- - Page 3 #59 Click
Medium Tank M4A1 Sherman ------------------------ - Page 4 #76 Click
Cruiser Tank A43 Comet ------------------------------ - Page 2 #37 Click

Pretty cool, was planning to go there myself. They still have the King Tiger and Jagdpanther there, right? Eagerly awaiting some pics!

Sturmpanzerwagen A7V axis

Production: 1918
Number Built: 20
Crew: 18-23
Weight: 30 t
Engine Output: 2x100hp
Speed on Roads: 18 km/h
Armament: 57 mm Maxim-Nordenfeldt gun
6x7,92mm machine guns


Since tanks from WW2 weren't the first one's on the field, im going to start right from the beginning of the development of tanks.

The A7V was the very first German tank.

In September 1916, the British Army introduced an all new weapon system. For the first time, it used tanks to break the stalemate of trench warfare. In response, the Germans developed the A7V and scheduled it for later mass production.



In early 1917, however, it was concluded that the enemy tanks were not particularly dangerous. They were prone to break down, and it was relatively easy to eliminate them.
Given the lack of commodities, the Oberste Heeresleitung decided to instead put its primary focus on submarine warfare. It had more confidence in submarines than in tanks to decide the war. As a result, only 20 A7Vs were actually built and deployed.



From todays perspective, the German decision is comprehensible. Even in the eyes of the victorious allies tanks were merely helpful tools. By no means they were considered as Miracle weapons. Their employment was limited to attack in combination with infantry forces. The tanks' role was to follow the infantry at walking speed and to support it during the attack. Their tactical success had no decisive indluence on the course of the war.


(Personally, i don't want to be in there with 22 other men.)

The cramped space inside the A7V housed 18, sometimes even up to 23, crew members.
These had to put up with the tremendous heat of more than 60 degrees celsius, deafening noise,
the extremely cramped conditions, machine vapours, and powder gases.



The exhibition piece shown here is a replica, the only original one that is left, is diplayed in Brisbane, Australia.

Leichter Kampfwagen 2 axis

Production: 1918
Number Built: 10
Crew: 3
Weight: 8,5 t
Engine Output: 55 hp
Speed on roads: 14 km/h
Armamanet: 37 mm or 57 mm gun

The "LK 2" presents an important step in the German tank development.

The LK 2 was a light tank. In contrast to the A7V, the LK2 was to rely on speed and mobility,
instead of armour and firepower, to succeed on the battlefield. The tank was to come in two variants: One armed with a main gun. The LK 2 was an important step towards the modern tanks design of the following decades.


(No, its not shooting laser beams.)

Because, only two weeks before the ending of the war the actual mass production began, only 10 of the planned 4,000 vehicles were built.

The LK2 design is quite similar to the British Whippet tank. But even if frequently heard: It is not a copy. Rather, the engineers of both countries independently arrived at the same soution for the same problem.



Following the end of the war, the completed tanks were sold to sweden.
This exhibition was later on given back to be shown in the Panzermuseum in Munster.

Pretty cool, was planning to go there myself. They still have the King Tiger and Jagdpanther there, right? Eagerly awaiting some pics!

Yes, the last King Tiger in the world and a Jagdpanther are indeed still exhibited.
(I'm going to present them later on!)

Panzerkampfwagen 1 Ausführung A "Panzer 1" axis

Production: 1934-1941
Number Built: 1,493 (all variants)
Crew: 2
Weight: 5,4 t
Engine Output: 57 hp
Speed on Roads: 37 km/h
Armament: 2x7.92 mm machine guns

Panzer 1 was the first German tank that was produced in large numbers.

But, in contrast to popular opinion, it was not merely intended for training purposes.
Of course, Panzer 1 was used for crew training: and it is also true that there were plans for the development of heavier tanks. And yet Panzer 1 turned out to be a practical war machine: such light armoured machine gun carriers were quite common in many armies in the 1930s.


(You can click to see bigger images from now on!)

The 1935 Demonstration and Trial Exercise (Lehr- und Versuchübung 35) was used to develop and define the operational principles of the Panzer 1 as the Army's mainstay weapon and as an effective weapon in combined arms combat.

At the beginning of WW2, the Panzer 1 still was, in terms of numbers, the backbone of the German Panzer force. It was employed in large numbers in the invasion of Poland and the Battle of France and suffered heavy losses in both campaigns. Yet most successes during the first two years of the war must still be attributed to the small Panzer 1 and 2 tanks.

Nice! Always love a bit of tank porn!

Panzerkampfwagen 3 Ausführung M "Panzer 3" axis

Production: 1936-1943
Number Built: Approx. 5,700 (all variants)
Crew: 5
Weight: 22,7 t
Engine Output: 300 hp
Speed on roads: 40 km/h
Armament: 50 mm KwK 39 L/60 gun
2x 7,92 mm machine guns

The Panzer 3 was one of the most used German tanks during World War 2.

According to plans made before the war, the Panzer 3 was to serve alongside the Panzer 4 as the primary German battle tank. But since, at first, there had been produced only a limited number of the Panzer 3, it was not much used in the early days of war.

This changed in 1941, when the war against the Soviet Union began: Even tough the tank became increasingly obsolete, it made up, with the Panzer 4, the backbone of the German Armour Corps for a long time. Not least because German industry made high profits from the tanks continued production, the Panzer 3 was consistently updated and continued to be built. The Ausführung M, as shown in the picture, was built from 1942 to 1943.



Its most significant feature is its long 50 mm gun, whereas earlier models had been equipped with the 37 mm gun. But despite these upgrades, the Panzer 3 was increasingly replaced by the Panzer 4 as the Wehmacht's primary battle tank because the latte could carry larger guns and stronger amour. By 1943 this transition had been completed, and the production of the Panzer 3 was ended.

Panzer III must be added into this game. >.<

3,7 cm Panzerabwehrkanone "PaK 35" axis

The 3,7 cm Pak was the standard antitank gun of the Wehrmacht until about 1941.

The gun had already been successfully employed during the Spanish Civil War. Its small size was a huge advantage: It was very light and could be easily brought into action by its crew. Also it was easy to conceal.



As early as 1940, however, it was realised that the gun would be next to useless when being confronted with the heavy Allied tanks. Its miserable performance against heavy tanks led to the gun being nicknamed "Heeresanklopfgerät" and "PanzerAnklopfKanone" (literally: "Army doorknocking device" and "Army door-knocking gun").



A temporary solution until the introduction of a new antitank gun was the development of the Stielgranate 41 HL stick grenade. Its shaped charge would penetrate 180 mm thick armour, which was more thans sufficent. The drawbacks were that the gun's effective range had now been limited to 200 m and that one soldier had to leave the cover provided by the gun shield to place another grenade on the front of the barrel.

7.5 cm Panzerabwehrkanone "Pak 40" axis

The 7.5 cm Pak 40 (7.5 cm Panzerabwehrkanone 40) was a German 7.5 centimetre anti-tank gun developed in 1939-1941 by Rheinmetall. Pak 40 formed the backbone of German anti-tank guns for the latter part of World War II.

The Pak 40 was the standard German anti-tank gun until the end of the war, and was supplied by Germany to its allies. Some captured guns were used by the Red Army. After the end of the war the Pak 40 remained in service in several European armies.



The weapon was effective against almost every Allied tank until the end of the war. The Pak 40 was much heavier than the 3,7 cm Pak 35; its decreased mobility meant that it was difficult or even impossible to move without an artillery tractor on boggy ground.

The Pak 40 was first used in Russia where it was needed to combat the newest Soviet tanks.



Copyright for this post (only text) is Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7.5_cm_Pak_40

Volkswagen Typ 166 "VW Schwimmwagen" axis

Production: 1942-1944
Number Built: 14,276
Crew: 1-4
Weight: 0,91 t
Engine Output: 25 hp
Speed on Roads: 80 km/h
Speed on Water: 10 km/h

The Schwimmwagen is one of the best known Wehrmacht vehicles!



The Schwimmwagen's development was based on the VW Kübelwagen. The Kübelwagen already had, despite a lacking four wheel drive - good off-road characteristics that were sufficient for most tasks. But based on its experiences during the campaign against Poland, the Wehrmacht demanded a vehicle with even better Off-Road capabilieites. In view of the European geography, this primarily meant havin an amphibious vehicle. Bodies of water, after all, are the main obstacles to troop movement in Europe.


(Did this thing really float?)


(Better start paddling, Hans!)

The Kübelwagen was consequently eqipped with a four-wheel dirve to make it even more efficient on land. Most notably, it was furnished with a floatable bodytub and a screw propeller at its rear. The Schwimmwagen could drive throught bodies of water without requiring lengthy preparation. The combination of its four-wheel drive and amphibious capability made the Schwimmwagen one of the best all-terrain vehicles.





The downside was that the vehicle was complex and expensive. Therefore, conciderably less Schwimmwagens than Kübelwagens were built. Particularly SS divisions, the Fallschirmjäger, engineer units abnd other units of special importance or with a special reputation were equipped with the Schwimmwagen.

Zündapp KS 750 axis

Production: 1941-1945
Number built: 18,286 (for Army only)
Weight: 0,4 t
Engine Output: 26 hp
Speed on Roads: 95 km/h

The Zündapp KS 750 was developed especially for the use in war.



The army has many tasks for motorcycles: They are used for message transmission, traffic control, and reconnaissance. Many of these motorcycles used by the Wehrmacht for these purposes were actually models from the civilian market. They were only slightly adapted and sent out on deployment. Often they did not meet the requirements of war.



The Zündapp KS 750, in contrast, was developed especially for the use in war. Its strong engine, reverse gear and driven sidecar wheel made it particularly suited for cross-country use.



These very expensive and powerful motorcycles were nicknamed "war elephants".

Motorcycles like the KS 750 played an important role in Wehrmacht doctrine. They gave troops speed and mobility, even away from roads.


(Emblem of the Africa Corps)

SU 100 soviets

Production: 1944-1945
Numbers Built: Approx. 3,000
Crew: 4
Weight: 31,6 t
Engine Output: 500 hp
Speed on Roads: 50 km/h
Armament: 100 mm

The SU-100 was developed to effectively engage the heavy German tanks.



The SU-100 was fitted with a converted ship-board gun which performed extremely well. Its gun enabled the SU-100 to engage most enemy tanks at a great range - a quality that is, during the final phase of the war, often assigned only to German tanks. The vehicle was so well desigend that it remained in service throughout the world for many years after the end of World War 2.


(Damn, just look at that barrel!)





The SU-100 tank destroyer is a typical result of the Soviet armaments effort. The design has been oriented towards a quick and easy production. The SU-100 uses many components of other tanks. The development period could be kept very short by taking the chassis of the T-34. The engine is identical, too, standardising parts supply.

Super Fotos!

The SU-100 would still be in service 20 years later in the Arab-Israeli wars and even (to judge by newsreals) Cuba. I've read that it's still in second line service in several states... (I reckon it's basically because it has a gun of the same calibre (and pretty similar to) the T-54's gun)

Awesome!!
I'ts my dream to visit the tank museum in Munster one day.
Unfortunately I live in the very south of Germany and I don't have much money :/

Yes, the last King Tiger in the world and a Jagdpanther are indeed still exhibited.
(I'm going to present them later on!)

There are several King Tigers existing in the world, and the only one which still runs is in France, at the Musée des Blindés in Saumur.

That being said, nice thread !

There are several King Tigers existing in the world, and the only one which still runs is in France, at the Musée des Blindés in Saumur.

That being said, nice thread !

Of course you're right, i misunderstood the information that was attached to the exhibition!

Of course you're right, i misunderstood the information that was attached to the exhibition!

Post more pictures and I'll forgive you.