German Military

Please take the time to enjoy a small selection of the artifacts that we have on display at the Museum of World War II. Every artifact in our collection has its own history, and ties to human lives. Each artifact has a small section of its story told here.

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This section contains artifacts specifically about German Military. A sense of the traditions and symbolisms created by the Nazis and the German military is stressed in the opening part of this exhibit with an extensive display of medals and awards, many signed by Hitler, photo albums, Field Marshal's batons, and other symbols of rank and power, including a collection of daggers and swords.

PLEASE NOTE: All firearms displayed at the Museum of World War II have been rendered inoperable.

Map of the Museum

A sense of the traditions and symbolisms created by the Nazis and the German military is stressed in the opening part of this exhibit with an extensive display of medals and awards, many signed by Hitler, photo albums, Field Marshal's batons, and other symbols of rank and power, including a collection of daggers and swords.

The complete collection of German military and civilian award medals and badges.

The military might of Germany is shown with the display of machine guns, mortars, rifles and pistols, and a significant collection of banners and flags illustrate the pageantry. The important role of the Luftwaffe is highlighted with control panels from the Me-109, the standard fighter plane, and the Me-262, the first operational military jet fighter. The nose cone and other parts of a V-2 Rocket and the autopilot of a V-1 are in this section.

An important collection of six different German Enigma code machines are combined with teletype machines, short-wave radios, and other communication devices.

U-boat warfare is represented by an outstanding collection of U-boat navigational charts, including those for the eastern coast of the United States, navigational instruments.The nose and tail of a torpedo and outstanding letters and other artifacts of the head of the U-boats, Admiral Doenitz.

Army Infantry Regimental Standarte

Luftwaffe Flight Regimental Standarte

Luftwaffe Flak Regimental Standarte

Knight's Cross with oak leaves and sword; Iron Cross, First Class; Iron Cross, Second Class; Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.

Presentation document,
"In the Name of the German People", to Gen. Alfred Jodl by Adolf Hitler, July 19, 1940.

Hitler’s appointment of Albert Speer to replace Fritz Todt the day after Todt’s plane exploded. On February 8, 1942, Speer had accepted Todt’s offer of a seat on his flight to Berlin from Hitler’s “Wolf’s Lair” headquarters at Rastenburg, in East Prussia. Hitler, at 1 o’clock that morning, had summoned Speer and they had talked most of the night, causing Speer to cancel going to Berlin. Todt’s plane mysteriously blew up on takeoff and, later on the 8th, Hitler told Speer that he would replace Todt in his three major positions, including Inspector General of Water and Energy. The next day, the three appointments were prepared, including this one, and Hitler presented them to Speer. The appointment of Speer to succeed Todt is considered one of Hitler’s shrewdest decisions.

Knight’s Cross Award from Hitler to Edgar Peterson, October, 1940, for an attack on the French and British escorts in the North Atlantic.

Instruction manual for V2 Rocket.

Luftwaffe General Hugo Sperrle's Field Marshal baton, of the type used every day.

Luftwaffe Goblet of Honor, given for brave service in the air.

Gold death's head ring and cigarette case, presented by Adolf Hitler to SS-Sturmbannfuhrer Otto Skorzeny, following his dramatic rescue of Italian leader Benito Mussolini on September 12, 1943. The case was made at the Allach works at the Auschwitz concentration camp and signed by designer Benno von Arendt, the President of the Fraternity of German Artists.

Herman Goering's presentation stickpin, given to Gen. Bruno Loerzer in 1935 as a special Christmas gift for assisting in building the Luftwaffe. Only 6 pins were ever presented.

This collection of ship models made during the war include a submarine made by a POW and traded for cigarettes.

German Kubelwagen.

This vehicle is the equivalent of the American jeep and is fully equipped and in original condition.

SS Medical Soldier's helmet, painted white for the Russian winter campaign, along with a German Lugar Pistol.

Nose cone of a V-2 rocket.

V-1 Autopilot, circa 1940.

Voltage meter from a V-1 or V-2 rocket.

Model of a German Frtiz X glide bomb found by an American soldier at the Focke-Wulf aircraft office in Bremerhaben.

Instrument Panel from a ME-109

Instrument panel from the ME-262, the first operational military jet.

Luftwaffe flak stopwatch and tachometer.

Recruiting Posters

Gas masks used in the war. To the left is one for use by humans; to the right, a gas mask for a horse.

German field surgical kit. Including vials of liquid cocaine and adrenaline.

Gorgets for (from left): Stahlhelm Veteran's Organization; SA Field Police; and Political Leader.

Nazi knives and daggers of the various German organizations.

German weapons including a pistols and daggers.

MG34 German machine gun.

ENIGMA CODE MACHINES

The museum displays six different Enigmas, the German code machines used during the war. Although deemed totally secure by the Nazis, the German codes were being deciphered by the British early in the war, giving the Allies a major tactical victory in the area of military intelligence. See our page about the Enigma Code Machines. Also displayed are German teletype machines, short wave radios and other communication equipment.

Ten-rotor T-52 Enigma code machine, used only by Hitler's headquarters, the Armed Forces High Command and the embassies in Sweden and Switzerland. Manufactured by Siemens. The average time to decode a message sent on an Enigma machine was one hour; the average time to decode a message sent on a T-52 was four days. One of five machines known to have survived.

Enigma code machine with printer attachment that converted decoded messages directly onto paper tape. Only two other Enigma printers are known to have survived.

Enigma code machine, 4 rotors, and separate panel.

The rotors on the four-rotor Enigma.

Three rotors Enigma.

Teletype machine

Enigma Uhr, which changed the settings of the Enigma machine to which it attached every hour.

German Army radio transmitter, manufactured by Telefunken, with Morse code key.

German backpack infantry radio, complete with the warning: "The Enemy is Listening."

Luftwaffe short-wave portable radio, captured by an American soldier.

Four Rotor Enigma used on a U-Boat submarine.

Extra Enigma Rotors in their original box with additional plugs.

U-BOATS

Plaque of U-Boat 96

U-Boat Navigational Computer HR2, from the U-Boat 219. The HR2 was Germany's most advanced navigational computer.

U-Boat Star Globe used principally to reduce the time on the surface to determine their position.

Torpedo fuse assembly (left) and fin assembly from the tail of a torpedo.

Binoculars from the Conning Tower.

Torpedo firing calculator.

U-Boat AMD Gauge

Portable U-Boat telephone

The working navigational charts for the east coast of the United States (left) and the east coast of Canada (Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick) used by U-Boat 219.

German U-Boat navigational grid map, extending from Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to South America.

The atlases of charts for the Harmonic Tide Constants for U-Boat 219.

German U-Boat navigational grid map of the East Coast of the United States.

German U-Boat map, extending from Portland, Maine to Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

U-Boat clock taken from Kiel, 1945.

Artifacts from Admiral Karl Doenitz, head of the German U-Boats and later the head of the German state after the death of Hitler, including a museum copy of his field marshal baton, submariner medals and a U-Boat torpedo timer. Also shown are other U-Boat artifacts, photo album, pistols and daggers.

Karl Doenitz, autograph photograph.

Submarine Banner from the French Atlantic U-Boat base.

Nazi submarine training model, used by the U.S. Navy to show the inside of a German U-Boat.

German Mines

German Military Binoculars