I'll be going to Germany in early September. I have an interest in WWII German equipment and this museums website looks pretty good. It's located in the smaller town of Munster, located south of Hamburg (maybe about 50 miles)and appears accessible only by roads. I have yet to see it covered in any guidebooks and am wondering if anyone has been there ? If so, what's your general impression and would you say it's worth the effort. As I mentioned, my main interest is the WWII equipment; Tigers, Panthers, lower Marks, Halftracks, etc. Thanks for any insights !
Posted by
Lawrenceville, Georgia
693 posts
Andrew, you may be the only American tourist in Munster. I looked up the town's website and was surprised to see that it's translated into French and Russian but not English. By the way, they do have a Bahnhof (train station), so you could reach it by train, probably from Hamburg and Hannover both. The directions say you can walk from the train station to the museum in about 15 min. or take a cab. Did you see this website in English? http://www.warmuseums.nl/gal/047gal.htm They have a bus tour to a battle training field in September but it's already completely booked. They also have a special exhibit "Mythos Blitzkrieg" that runs through November of this year. Munster is located in the "Lueneburger Heide" a heathland area where they used to graze sheep and keep honey bees (maybe they still do to some extent; they also grow asparagus). It can be very picturesque and is a tourist destination for Germans (when they're not headed to warmer climes).
Posted by
Huntington, WV
160 posts
Loved it!!! Going back with my son next year. It's offical name is the Deutsches Panzermuseum Munster and it's on the site of the original armor school which was founded by Heinz Guderian. True, all the exibits are in German, but you can purchase a pretty good museum exibit book in english at the gift shop. There are over 200 armored vehicles including over 40 tanks. The highlight, a Tiger II. Fantastic gallery with an incredible assortment of weapons and uniforms including those worn by Guderian and by Rommel. On Saturdays they fire up some of the vehicles and tanks...the ground literally vibrates (remember the scene from "Saving Private Ryan" when the tiger rolls into town...yeah, that's the sound). Remember, this is located in small Munster just north of Hannover. Make sure the battery in your camera is well charged. I took over 200 pics when I was there last year. If you make it to Paris, make sure you take in the Military Museum in the Invalides. Top marks for both. Enjoy!!!
Posted by
Calgary
2297 posts
I haven't been there. According to the museum's website there is a train station in Munster and it's a 15 min walk from there. When you check out connections on the www.bahn.de website make sure you choose Munster (Örtze) as your destination.
This small town is in the Lueneburger Heide, a beautiful landscape!
http://www.germany-tourism.de/ENG/destination_germany/master_tlregion-id115.htm
Posted by
San Francisco
14791 posts
Andrew,
Where you ought to go and see is The Bovington Tank Museum in England located a little more than 2 hrs. from London and accessible by train. That's the place to go if you're interested in armour. It's huge...prepared to spend a whole day there.