This, the German Army's official tank museum is housed in several large buildings and over a number of outdoor acres and is part of the armor school for officers and non-commissioned officers. The museum is located in the suburbs of Munster, a small city in the north of Germany, south of Hamburg off the A7 autobahn and then highway 1371. It is well worth a detour for anyone with an interest in armored and other fighting vehicles and should be a must-see destination for any World War II buff. By the way, Munster is a very interesting old town with good restaurants and lodgings. You will find dozens of armored vehicles to examine up close, including all the panzers, self-propelled guns, tank destroyers and assault guns. I spent five years in M48 (Patton) tanks and don't you know they have an M48A2 turret cut away so that you can see ail of the interior detail. Although the vast majority of items on display are German, there is a very good sampling of American, British, Italian and other nationalities as well. Besides armored vehicles you will find trucks, half-tracks, staff-cars and motorcycles. In one hall there is a vast array of machine guns, handguns, rifles and automatic weapons. Yet another hall houses life-size figures in full uniforms from World War I through the present. In addition, on the walls and in cases are displayed an extensive collection of helmets, caps and accessories of all kinds. In several alcoves a visitor can sit down and view continuous showings of official battle films. Besides this there are endless photographs all over the place. Outside, parked on the grass between buildings are more AFV's including bridgelayers on tank chassis as well as tank retrievers and other breakdown equipment. If this sounds like your cup of tea, make a visit. You won't be disappointed. My wife, who has long suffered visits to military museums, was fascinated. The museum is closed Mondays and is open from May 1st through October 31 from 10:00AM to 5:00PM. Check for open times the rest of the year. The admission charge is DM 7.00 ($3.50). Panzermuseum Hans-Kruge Strasse 33 29633 Munster, Germany Back to MWAN #109 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2001 Hal Thinglum This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com