Defense Technology Museum - Koblenz, Germany

Die Wehrtechnische Studiensammlung - Koblenz, Germany

Situated in Koblenz is "The Scientific Collection of Defense Engineering Specimens" (also called " Defense Technology Museum", or in German "Die Wehrtechnische Studiensammlung"). The museum has an impressive exhibition space of 7,200 square metres and is thus one of the largest technically oriented collections in Germany. It was founded in 1962 as a part of the organization of "the Federal Office of Defense Technology and Procurement" (BWB).

The museum has a large exhibition area, showing lots of different pieces of equipment, weapon systems and many other things. Although the museum doesn't focus on WWII specifically, the number and quality of the items on display of this period are impressive, to say the least.

The main exhibition focuses on:

• Hand and machine guns
  They have a Krummlauf on display. One of the reasons why we wanted to visit, but we missed it due to the fact that we used too much time on the ground floor and got thrown out of the museum because it was past closing time..
• Artillery technology
• Ammunition
• Missile technology
  They have a Henschel HS 293 V4 guided missile
• Antiarmor weapons
• Wheeled and tracked vehicles, engineer and recovery technology
  They have lots of beautifully restored unique vehicles, but amongst them is an eight ton (armoured) Kraus- Maffei medium halftrack mounted with a 20 mm Flakvierling! Oh, and hidden in the back they also have a heavy 18 ton SdKfz 9 Halftrack Type F3.
• Aircraft and naval technology
  They have a mini submarine "Seehund"U-boat Type XXVII like in Bremerhafen and a Jumo 004B jet engine used to power the Messerschmitt ME 262 jet fighter
• Communications, electronic and optical equipment
  A Kommandogerät 40 predictor is on display
• Personal clothing and equipment
  

Heavy armoured car SdKfz 231 Type GS - Koblenz

Artillery and AA as far as the eye can see in the Defense Technology Museum

10-barreled 15 cm (5.9 inch.) Nebelwerfer 42 - Defense Technology Museum, Koblenz

Light Tractor Type HL KI 6 (SdKfz 11) - Koblenz

Big tracks of the heavy tractor - 18 ton SdKfz 9 Type F3 - Koblenz

The enormous grille of the 18 ton SdKfz 9 Type F3 - Koblenz

The 8 ton armoured Kraus Mafait halftrack with 20mm Flakvierling - Koblenz

One of the first guided missiles, the Henschel HS 293 V4 - Defense Technology Museum, Koblenz

The Henschel HS 293 V4 seen from behind - Defense Technology Museum, Koblenz

Jumo 004B jet engine (1942 - 1943) used to power the Messerschmitt ME 262 jet fighter - Koblenz

Visit

We/I always seem to have trouble sticking to the tight schedule in places like this (What can I say. Panz is simply ruthless when it comes to his deviously planned timetables). It's like two nerds in a comic-store. Places like Koblenz have so many pleasant suprises in their enormous colections we just lost track of time and when we finally got kicked out after many friendly hints of the staff, we discovered that we had only seen one of three levels filled with interesting stuff. So, we are obviously coming back to Koblenz in the near future.

On a more serious note, we would like to give a warning. Don't wait too long to visit this collection. There were notes posted at the entrance of the museum talking about having financial problems and maybe even closing the museum for normal visitors. We have a strong feeling it might have to close down in the future (we were almost the only visitors there), so grab your chance while it lasts!

More Information

For more information about the Defense Technology Museum or the opening hours visit www.bwb.org

Album photo's

Use the link below to view all our pictures

Die Wehrtechnische Studiensammlung - Koblenz