Three Museums

Saturday 25 September 2010
2000

Over the course of the past few months I have visited three different firearms/military museums. I meant to write about each one right after I visited, but for various reasons I never did. Now I thought I’d sit down and write a post incorporating all three visits. Chronologically it’s out of order, but at least it’s thematically coherent!

The first one was the Wehrtechnisches Museum in Koblenz. This translates as “Defense Technology Museum”. It is owned and run by the Bundeswehr (German Army) as a sort of research and technical reference facility. I visited this museum at the end of May.




The drive to Koblenz was cool – I drove up the Rhine valley past the Loreleifelsen and lots of vinyards and castles. Most of them were hollow ruins, but this one was in very good condition.



I stopped in this small town and wanted to get something to eat, but they told me I had to move my car because there was some sort of bicycle race coming through town and the road would be closed soon. So I just kept going.

When I got to Koblenz and looked for the museum, at first I thought I was in the wrong place. My GPS told me I was there, but I didn’t see anything. There was a Bundewehr building that said “Wehrtechnische Studiensammlung” - “Defense technology research collection”). Eventually I realized that this was the museum. http://www.warmuseums.nl/gal/066gal.htm

Admission was free with my military ID, which was a nice surprise. And once inside, I was very impressed. This museum is awesome! There are four floors, and way more stuff than I could possibly take photos of or even stop to look at in any detail. A lot of it I simply walked through, looking more closely and reading the display placards when something caught my eye. It really was a research collection, very well documented with many examples of the technological evolution of various weaponry and military equipment.

The first floor was crammed full of artillery pieces and also had a large room full of vehicles. I took photos of just a few of them.





The Mi-24 (Hind) was the main Soviet attack helicopter back in my Cold Warrior days. It was heavily armored, basically a flying tank. This is closest I ever got to one, and I’m not sorry I never saw one on a battlefield.




This StuG III was one of the few WWII armored vehicles they had (I was disappointed there weren’t more). It is an assault gun/tank destroyer.



They had several nice military motorcycles, including this Harley-Davidson. If I ever get a motorcycle, I’d love to have a military version! The plexiglass and blue support poles were a major annoyance, though. They made it very hard to get good pictures.



BMW

Not sure what this one was.

The second and third floors were interesting, but not my specialty. They had a large variety of weapons and equipment of various types. By the end of the third floor I was beginning to get tired, but dutifully climbed up to the fourth floor, where I was treated to an absolutely stunning display of small arms, which are my particular interest.

Now, if you’re not interested in firearms you’re going to get bored pretty quickly here. I am a gun nut, am especially interested in military firearms, and am *very* especially interested in 20th-century military firearms. So I was in hog heaven, as the saying goes. One thing that I found especially interesting was that many of the firearms I wrote about in my C&GSC paper (see my blog entry from 15 June 2008) were represented here. From this point forward I will mainly just label the photos, and comment only when I have something extra to say.

M1903A4 – U.S. Sniper rifle

Mauser Sniper Rifle – I never saw one with this type of scope and mount before.

HK Sniper Rifle

G43 Sniper Variant – semiautomatic. Note the quick-release scope mount.

Small arms spare parts kit

Mauser spare parts kit

StG 44 on mannequin.

I noticed that all the mannequins had shaggy 1970’s hair. Why not cut it to match the period represented?

Chauchaut.

This is one of the worst machineguns ever made, and certainly the worst one ever issued to American soldiers. Since America entered World War I without a general-issue machinegun, we had to rely on the French Army. They gave us these, which were absolute pieces of garbage. American soldiers were reported to have deliberately destroyed many of them so as not to have to carry them into combat.

M1919A4.

This, on the other hand, was a very fine John Browning design, and was the U.S. general-issue machinegun of World War II. My G.I. Joe had one of these, and I desperately need a real one for my very own. I envision a WWII Willys Jeep with one of these on a pintle mount so I can ride around my property out west shooting it Rat Patrol-style. Someday…

MG 34

MG 42

Lewis Guns.

This was a World War I design. They were used by the infantry, and also mounted over the wings of some fighter aircraft, such as the SE5a. The pilot had to stand up in the cockpit to change the drum. I read one account of a pilot with a stuck drum whose plane flipped over and left him hanging by the drum. Suddenly he did *not* want it to come off! (Could be apocryphal, but it's still a good story - wonder if *that's* in Snopes.com? If I check everything there I won't have any more stories to tell...)

Enigma Machine.

This was the German code machine that was supposed to be unbreakable. The allies had some high-powered mathematicians who figured out how to build a machine that could break the code, giving us a major advantage for the rest of the war. (And, incidentally, starting the computer age...)

The next few photos were a really cool exhibit, and an example of why this museum was so superior. The exhibits went into some detail explaining the history and often the function of the weapons shown. In this case, it was the “Zundnadelsystem” that we know as the “needle gun”. This was a major development. It gave the German Army a significant advantage in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71. I never really had a clear idea of how it worked, but now I do.

Needle Gun Bolt

Needle Gun Description

Needle Gun Action

Needle Gun cartridge and bolt cross-section showing how the needle on the firing pin penetrates the back of the cartridge, strikes the primer inside the cartridge, and fires the gun.

Overall view of the needle gun exhibit. A very well put-together exhibit in a very well put-together museum.

Mauser Model 1896.

This pistol is another firearm that I desperately need to own someday. Winston Churchill carried one when he participated in the last major horse cavalry charge in British military history at Omdurman in 1898. (Did you know that the blaster that Han Solo used in “Star Wars” was one of these pistols with a few extra pieces stuck on?)

M1 Prototype placard.

According to this placard, the next rifle is a prototype M1 carbine.

M1 Carbine Prototype.

How on earth this museum ever got ahold of this rifle is a mystery to me. It is an extremely rare and important piece of firearms history. I would think that it belongs in the Cody Firearms Museum in Cody, Wyoming, the NRA National Firearms Museum, or the U.S. Army Ordnance Museum. But I’m glad I got to see it.

G41 (top) and G43 (bottom)

MP-18

This is a World War I German submachinegun. Notice that it uses the “snail drum” magazine from a P-08 Luger pistol.

MP 40

This was the main German submachinegun of World War II, just like you see in every WWII movie ever made. (Well, almost – ironically I have a German-made WWII movie from the 1950’s that used really tacky, inaccurate substitutes – go figure). You often see it designated as the MP 38/40, as the two designs were so similar that most people can’t tell them apart.

FG-42 first and second models

"Fallschirmjaeger Gewehr" means "paratroop rifle".

The following series of photos and placards trace the development of the first true “Assault Rifle” (the literal meaning of Sturmgewehr). Competing designs were submitted by Walther and Haenel in 1942. The Haenel design, after incorporating some improvements from the Walther, was chosen for further development into the models 43 and 44.

StG 42 W (Walther) Placard

StG 42 W

StG42 H (Haenel) Placard

StG42 H (showing Walther version underneath)

MP 43 Placard

MP 43

MP/StG 44 Placard, also showing the ammunition

MP 43/StG 44


I remember reading about the following gun (HK G11) in the gun press when it was first developed. Heckler and Koch developed a caseless cartridge that is completely consumed when fired. Since it doesn’t need to eject an empty cartridge case, the mechanism doesn’t need a reciprocating bolt, but rather uses a rotating carrier to feed the cartridges. The absence of this large moving mass makes the weapon much more controllable. It also stays cleaner because it is a closed system, venting only gas. Apparently it never went anywhere, but what a cool idea! (Of course, handloading would be a thing of the past with this system….)

G-11 Schematic

G11 ammo and magazine

G11

G11 Placard


A few weeks later I took the train to meet an old friend (my roommate from when I was here in the Army in the 1980’s). We spent the afternoon at a museum in Sinsheim. http://sinsheim.technik-museum.de/en

Sinsheim 1848 Freiheit memorial

This memorial commemorated the 1848 revolutions in Germany. You can see the partial word “Freiheit” (Freedom) written in a spiral on the column.

This was more of a vehicle museum than a firearms museum. It had an extensive collection of military vehicles, which made it of particular interest to us. It did also have quite a lot of firearms on display, but I didn’t take too many photos as I thought the Wehrtechnisches Museum had much better presentations and there was nothing really new here in that area. They did have a lot of ancillary equipment and uniforms that were interesting, as well as display cases full of various related items like ID papers, personal equipment, etc.

Panzer III

Kuebelwagen.

This was the military configuration of the Volkswagen. It was the same basic machine, but in a military package. It was only two-wheel drive, with mobility inferior to the U.S. jeep.

Volkwagen

Apparently the familiar Beetle was also used in military service.

Panzer IV

They didn’t have a Tiger tank, which I would love to have seen. But they did have a Panther. I can’t believe I didn’t take a picture of it!!


A few weeks ago I spent a Saturday driving to Oberndorf to visit the Mauser museum there (http://www.deutsche-museen.de/show.php?myname=index&id=8306&show_ref=yes&bundesland_id=2 )

It was a gorgeous day, so I decided to make the drive the main event instead of the destination. I put the top down on my Jeep and drove along the Neckar River through the hills and woods, rather than taking the Autobahn. It took twice as long to get there, but what a wonderful drive it was! I could have stopped every five minutes to take a picture, but if I had I’d still be on the road.

Bridge on the Neckar

I did have to stop and take a photo of this bridge over the Neckar on the drive there. I don’t know the name of this town, but there were several along the way that would have been worth visiting on their own merits. I noticed that this was a “Kurort”, meaning an area where Germans go for relaxation.

One thing I like about Germany is that they put flowers out everywhere. Even this otherwise plain, ugly concrete bridge becomes presentable and even attractive.

Once again I had trouble finding the museum when I got there. I walked around in circles for awhile, until I finally approached what looked like an abandoned factory that said “Schwedenbau” on the side. Sure enough, that was the museum. It was almost as though they didn’t want people to find it. The attendant at this museum apologized when I got there, as the museum is undergoing renovation and many of the exhibits are empty or incompletely marked. The admission fee was reduced as a result.

Wilhelm u. Paul Mauser, the brothers who designed the most widely-produced bolt-action rifle design in history (the Model 1898). Even the U.S. Model 1903 Springfield is a licensed Mauser action.

Model 1896 Pistol disassembled

This pistol uses no screws or pins, but instead fits together like a chinese puzzle. I've read about this, but never seen the insides of one.

Model 1896 varieties – I like the combination wood holster/shoulder stock. I need one!

M1910/14/34

This one exhibit made the visit worthwhile. I’d never even heard of these pistols until I bought one from a friend a few years ago. Since then I’ve noticed a few in movies from time to time, but you generally just don’t see them.

M1914 close-up

This is a close-up of the particular model that I have. Mine is a WWII “bring-back” with the American soldier’s name written in pen inside the holster flap.

Mauser Car poster

I never knew Mauser made cars! They also had a bunch of other stuff I didn’t take pictures of, like sewing machines, adding machines, etc. It was a general-purpose industrial concern that made a lot of things besides firearms.

Mauser Car

Sten gun copy apparatus.

This was kind of cool. The sign explains that the Germans made exact copies of the British Sten gun for use by their secret agents.

German copy of a British Sten gun

G43 (top) / MP44 (?) (center) / MP43 (bottom)

Heckler & Koch Model 4

This is a highly–desired goal for my own particular firearms collection. An HK4 with all four caliber conversion kits! This one pistol can be converted to fire .22LR, .25 ACP (6,35mm), .32 ACP (7,65mm) and .380 (9mm kurz). The example shown is a highly decorated presentation piece, but I’d prefer a plain vanilla gun I can shoot. I once talked to a guy who was selling two of these, each one with all four calibers, plus extra spare parts, for $1,000. I *really* wanted them, but just didn’t have the $1,000 at the time. It was a fair deal then and would be an even better deal now. I’d settle for just one, and in a pinch I could do without the .25 ACP barrel as that caliber is all but defunct anyway. Once again, someday….

Music: Silence
Mood: Happy that I finally wrote this!