Military History Museum (Dresden)

The museum building was built in 1873-1877. and was solemnly consecrated on May 1, 1877 . At that time, it was used as the main arsenal of the Dresden garrison . As such, it served until the end of World War I. Although in 1897, the exhibition “Collection of historical weapons and models” was organized in the arsenal building. Since 1918, many premises began to be leased to entrepreneurs, but the main areas were used to store large weapons, and the Royal Museum of the Saxon Army , which was opened in 1914 , was opened here, which opened only in 1923 under the changed name the Museum of the Saxon Army. In 1940 it was again renamed ( "Museum of the Ground Forces" ) and remained open to visitors until 1945 .

After the defeat of the Third Reich in World War II , in 1945, by decision of the victorious countries , all military museums were closed in Germany. Most of the museum property from Dresden was taken as a reparation to the Soviet Union , and the building was transferred to the Dresden city government in 1946, which converted the premises and began to hold exhibitions (until 1967 ) of city museums, various city events, festivals, including the "North hall" ( it. Nordhalle), as it was then called the museum building, carried out the famous Dresden Christmas markets " striezelmarkt " ( it. Striezelmarkt), as well as the first exhibition dedicated to the restoration Dr. Zdena, destroyed at the end of the war . In 1957, one permanent exhibition was opened, dedicated to the National People's Army of the GDR .

Since 1972, the building begins to be used again as a museum, now as the “Museum of the German Democratic Army” , with expositions only about the armies of East Germany and the Warsaw Pact . At this time, some exhibits from the former museum of the Saxon army were transferred to the museum from the USSR.

With the unification of Germany , in 1990, the museum passes under the leadership of the Ministry of Defense and gets a new name - "Military History Museum of the Armed Forces of Germany . " Since that time, rarities have been collected and exhibited in the museum, telling about the military history of Germany “from the very beginning” to the present, a lot of attention is paid to Saxon history. The museum has two branches: a museum of German military aviation , located at one of the former military airfields in Berlin, and a collection of historical weapons in the Königstein fortress .

The architectural ensemble of the Bundeswehr Military History Museum in Dresden consists of two elements: the building of the 1877 arsenal and the extension built in 2011 by the American architect Daniel Libeskind . The wedge-shaped annex construction as if crashes into the facade of an old arsenal. The structure of the wedge with its play of light and shadow symbolizes the military history of Germany with its contrasts. Both the architectural concept and the museum exposition are aimed at a diverse interpretation and rethinking of the usual visual perception. The museum exposition makes visitors think about their own potential aggression. She topics violence as a historical, cultural, and anthropological phenomenon. The permanent exhibition of the museum includes two complexes: thematic in the halls of the new annex and chronological in the halls of the old arsenal. Over a total area of ​​10,000 square meters, a total of about 10,000 exhibits are displayed.

In the annex created by Daniel Libeskind, a thematic excursion awaits visitors, originating on the fifth floor on a platform overlooking Dresden and leading up to the offset annex stairs and the historic staircase of the old building - floor by floor - down. The twelve themes of the complex reflect diverse and somewhat unexpected aspects of military history, without adhering to the chronological order. The interior of the annex is characterized by open up exhibition areas, over some of which suspension bridges have been built. The exhibits presented during this exhibition belong to such thematic sections of the exposition as “War and memory”, “War and game” or “Animals in military service”. Some of these sections are aimed at facilitating access to military history for visitors who are still not familiar with military topics.

A chronologically constructed tour of German military history is located in the interiors of the three wings of a historic building. Three historical periods are presented to visitors: from the late Middle Ages to 1914 (first floor), the era of world wars (second floor, west wing) and the period from 1945 to the present day (second floor, east wing). The chronological exposition originates on the first floor and ends with the present day presented in the halls of the second floor of the historical building. Moreover, the military history of Germany is displayed in the context of European history. In addition to the main exposition, visitors have the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the details of the military history of a particular era, presented in the adjacent halls. The in-depth theme rooms include aspects such as the economics of war, the military and society, or injuries and death. The path through the epochs runs along ten main windows that reflect the central episodes of the turning points of German history - the Thirty Years War, the beginning and end of World War II, as well as the division and reunification of Germany .

The most interesting exhibits:

• The first German submarine Brandtaucher ( German Brandttaucher ), built in 1850 according to the design of Wilhelm Bauer.
• The descent module of the Soyuz-29 spacecraft, on which the first German cosmonaut Sigmund Jen , a member of the third international crew under the Intercosmos program, returned from space.

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  Monument to Soviet soldiers located in the square in front of the museum

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  Siege weapon. XVII century

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  Order Collection

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  Order Collection

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  (Lapel stars of the orders: St. Andrew (for non-Christians) and the Ottoman Empire

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  Submarine Brandtaucher

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  Helmets collection

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  Front helmet

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  Aircraft U (Po) -2

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  Howitzer M-101 and tank "Patton II" M-47 .

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  Armored Car "Bobby" BA-64

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  One of the museum expositions

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  GSVG booth

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  Reconstruction of the main museum building. year 2009

• Official site of the Dresden Military History Museum (German)
• About the museum at www.das-neue-dresden.de (German)
• Richtfest für Libeskind in Dresden. On the reconstruction of the museum on the website www.baunetz.de (German)
• Dmitry Adamenko. A breakthrough into another dimension (unspecified) . warspot.ru (January 2, 2018). Date of appeal April 9, 2018.