List of armored vehicles of the German Empire

Small coat of arms of the German Empire

This list includes the most famous examples of armored vehicles of the German Empire , developed for the German imperial army from 1890 to November 1918 . Also included in this list are armored vehicles created in Austria-Hungary and the forerunner of tanks, the Fahrpanzer . Information on many samples of German and Austrian armored vehicles in some cases is very scarce or completely absent.

Content

Armored

Machine gun and cannon

Designation	Picture	Years development	Years production	Qty PC.	Short description
Fahrpanzer		late 1880s	1890 - circa 1900	not less than 300	Fahrpanzer (short for German Fahrbare Panzerlafette, literally - "Self-propelled armored carriage") - tower artillery mount, an early version of self-propelled guns. Also known under the names 5.3 cm L / 24 Fahrpanzer Gruson and Schumann Armored Carrier (German: Schumann Panzerlafette / Fahrpanzer). In the conditions of the "trench warfare" armored vehicles were an effective weapon. During the First World War, there were samples of horse-drawn armored vehicles. Such a device was capable of firing at the enemy with direct fire despite the return fire from small arms. Samples were available to the German army. Such a device, unlike the cart, was intended for firing from an artillery trench, which protected the vulnerable parts of the suspension and the armored door. The device could be collapsible, and the suspension could be removed after installing it in a shelter.
Romfell		1914 - 1915	1915 - after 1919	more than 2	The serial machine-gun armored car produced by Austria-Hungary during the First World War. Used by the Balkan Front, Russian Fronts . The first “Romfell” hit the Italian front as part of the KuK Panzerautozug No.1 division, which also included two Junovicz armored cars, one captured Italian Lancia IZM and one captured Russian Austin of the first series . One of the "Romphels" came to Romania, where it was used by the army of this country.
Marienvagen II (armored car)		1918	1918 - 1919	about 10	The first German half-track armored car (heavy in mass), created on the basis of the Marienwagen II artillery tractor shortly after the end of World War I. Released in a small series, presumably in 10 cars. In World War I, they were not used (they simply did not have time to release them). They were used to suppress the revolutions in Germany in 1919.
Austro-daimler panzerwagen		1904 - 1905	1905	1 experienced	Machine gun armored car of the armed forces of Austria-Hungary. One of the first armored vehicles in the world. Designed in 1904-1905 by Austro-Daimler engineers led by Paul Daimler. The prototype was built in 1905. The armored car had a number of very advanced engineering solutions for its time, but during the maneuvers of the Austro-Hungarian army made a bad impression on the military and the emperor and was not accepted into service.
Bussing a5p		1915 - 1916	1916	1 experienced	Machine gun armored car company Bussing . Due to the military’s distrust of him, he did not enter mass production. The only A5P prototype was sent to the Eastern Front at the end of 1916. He participated in battles in Romania for some time, and in 1918 the armored car was transferred to Ukraine. Until the beginning of 1919, the A5P was in the occupied territory, until an order to evacuate troops came from Germany. In view of the impossibility of evacuating all the equipment to the armored car platoon, I had to drop some of the cars in Nikolaev, having previously completely disabled them. Apparently, such a fate befell the A5P, since it was not listed among the armored vehicles that reached the Caucasus (from where the German troops were sent to Europe).
Daimler model 1915		1914 - 1915	1915	1 experienced	The machine gun Panzerkampfwagen Daimler armored car was not entered into mass production, due to the low running and defense characteristics. The only prototype Panzerkampfwagen Daimler was sent to the Eastern Front, where it was placed at the disposal of the Panzerkampfwagen-MG-Abteilug 1 - according to German data, its use continued from 1916 to 1919. The information on the further fate of this car is divided, but there is every reason to believe that the Panzerkampfwagen Daimler M1915 was lost during the fighting in the Baltic states.
Ehrhardt E / V-4		1915	1915 - 1919	more than 40	Machine-gun armored car of the German Empire and the Weimar Republic. Used in battles on the Eastern Front and to maintain order within Germany itself. One of the 1917 E / V-4 armored vehicles was captured by the Red Army in the battle of Kozinka. 1918 and fought in Ukraine. A photograph of the 1915 E / V-4 captured by the Don Army on September 16, 1918 in the village of Varlamovka was preserved.
Junovicz PA1	No image	1915	1915	1 experienced	Machine-gun armored car on a truck chassis, developed in Austria-Hungary. The project was declared unsuccessful, and the prototype went to the Eastern Front. The further fate is unknown.
Opel Halbgepanzerter Wagen	No image	1905 - 1906	1906	1 experienced	Machine-gun armored car, introduced in 1906 by Opel . To build this car, now known as the Opel halbgepanzerter Wagen, the chassis of a conventional passenger car with a 4x2 wheel formula was used, on which an armored casing opened on top was installed, protecting only the crew. Armament, consisting of one machine gun, was located in the bow, to the right of the driver. The German command did not show much interest in the car company Opel, mainly due to distrust of the new type of technology, which ultimately left this armored car in a single copy. The further fate is unknown.

Antiaircraft

Designation	Picture	Years development	Years production	Qty PC.	Short description
Daimler 5.7cm FlaK	No image	1908 - 1909	1909	1 experienced	The German anti-aircraft armored car (appeared seven years earlier than the Russian Austin . Its tests were successfully completed in 1909, but the German army took this car very cool. Then the General Staff preferred to confine themselves to conventional mounted and mechanized guns, considering the armored vehicles unreliable and unnecessarily expensive means.
Ehrhardt m1906	Image not saved	1905 - 1906	1906	Not known	The project of the Austro-Hungarian anti-aircraft armored car, presented in 1906. He was rejected due to distrust of new types of armored vehicles. The further fate is unknown.
Ehrhardt 5cm BaK	No image	1906 - 1908	1908	1 experienced	Tests of the anti-aircraft self-propelled guns, called the Panzerkampfwagen Ehrhardt 5cm BaK, began in 1908. In general, the military liked the car, but in 1909 work on it was stopped in favor of a more advanced model of Daimler .
Krupp-Daimler 7.7cm FlaK		1914	1914 - 1918	more than 30 cars	German anti-aircraft armored car, developed in 1914 by Krupp-Daimler. On the Western Front, the blitzkrieg plan failed and the German General Staff began to pay more attention to the development of armored vehicles. At the end of 1914, the command of the German army placed an order for a batch of such vehicles. They were used on the Western and Eastern fronts, as well as in the Baltic states. Several armored vehicles were captured by Russian troops and used in battles with Germany. To date, not a single copy has been preserved.
Anti-aircraft vehicle based on Marienvagen II	Image not saved		Unknown	Unknown	The project of the modernized Marienvagen II with an anti-aircraft gun mounted on it. Information about him is almost unknown.

Tanks

Implemented

Designation	Years development	Years production	Qty PC.	Short description
Lk i	1917 - 1918	1918	1 prototype	German light tank during the First World War. It was created on the basis of the Daimler automobile chassis, as a result of which the machine is made according to the standard automobile circuit: the engine is located in the front of the housing, and the drive axle is mounted in the rear. In mid-1918, a single prototype was released. Information about his future fate is unknown. Immediately after the creation of the prototype LK.I, work began on its improvement. In June 1918, a new modification was built - the light tank LK.II. The German army ordered 580 vehicles, of which only two prototypes were produced.
Lk ii	1918	1918	2 prototypes	The Lk II was a development of the LK I with the same layout, but incorporating a rotating turret on the rear superstructure, armed with a 37 mm Krupp cannon. His armor was 8 to 14 mm thick, which increased the total weight to 8.75 tons. A version armed with one or two 7.92mm Maxim 08/15 machine guns was also planned, but progressed no further than the project. Only two prototypes were produced in June 1918, and orders for 580 tanks followed, which were never completed. One of them has survived to the present day.
A7v	1916 - 1917	1917 - 1918	20	The first production tank in Germany. All tanks fired during World War I were sent to the Western Front, where they proved to be on the contrary side: their good armament and armor allowed them to successfully fight enemy tanks, and their low mobility and weak chassis made them vulnerable. They were later scrapped.
K-wagen	1917 - 1918	1918	1 unfinished, partially built 2 instance	German superheavy tank during the First World War. Because of its large mass and huge size, it was not a tank, but a “mobile fort”. At the end of the war, unfinished specimens were destroyed.
Dür-wagen	1916 - 1917	1917 - 1918	ten	In 1916, the German Maritime Ministry issued an order for the construction of an armored off-road conveyor for transporting heavy artillery and ammunition. In fact, the tracked vehicle developed by Durkoppwerke from Bielefeld was a conventional chassis with an armored hull. According to the fashion of that time, the chassis was multi-wheeled, with equal diameter driving and steering wheels. The conveyor was equipped with a 80 hp carburetor engine. (without differential) installed in the aft. Tests of the conveyor, named Dur-Wagen, took place in 1917. The purchase commission was dissatisfied with its poor protection and low running data, however, due to the acute need for machines of this type, an order for 10 copies was issued. All of them were put into operation and until the end of the war were used as conventional conveyors.

Unrealized or partially implemented

Designation	Picture	Years development	Years production	Qty PC.	Short description
Lk III	No image	1917 - 1918	Not produced	Not implemented in metal	A promising light tank project appeared before the end of the First World War. After all, the design of the LK tanks (Leichte Kampfwagen) was a kind of compromise between the desire to create an effective battle tank and the need to maximize the use of existing car chassis. In the fall of 1918, just a few months before the end of World War I, a team of engineers, led by designer Joseph Vollmer, presented a project for a new combat vehicle, the design of which was based on the chassis of the newly built LK-II. An improved version of the LK-II could be a good tank in the service of the army of the German Empire, but the November Revolution and the end of World War I put an end to these developments.
Lk krupp	Image not saved	1917 - 1918	Not produced	1 unfinished prototype	The project of the light tank of the German Empire. The construction of the first prototype was started in the winter of 1918 and progressed extremely slowly. It is difficult to say which tank was being built right now, but the author of this article is inclined to the first version with an 8-roller chassis. It is no secret that after the spring offensive ended unsuccessfully, the German army was forced to retreat, and the use of tanks by the allies took on an increasingly large-scale character. The new Renault FT-17 stood out especially, which, although they were used in places spontaneously, showed higher efficiency than other French cars. Immediately after the start of the Amiens operation, Krupp was given an order to build 65 tanks, although the prototype has not yet been completed. There is evidence that the semi-finished prototype was submitted for testing on June 13, 1918, but after comparing it with the modified LK-II, the choice was made in favor of the Volmer project. The order for the release of Krupp tanks was canceled in October, and the only prototype was subsequently dismantled for metal. Apparently, not a single photograph of the Krupp tank has been preserved. Nevertheless, on July 23, 1918, Krupp proposed a project for another infantry tank equipped with a 52 mm cannon and machine gun, but the military commission rejected it as well. The reasons for the failure were a possible lack of cross-country ability and the presence of a similar project LK-III.
Orion-wagen	No image	1916 - 1917	Not produced	An unfinished prototype was made, which, however, practically did not move independently	Since in 1916, tank building in Germany was still gaining momentum, no one knew exactly how the tank would behave under real conditions. A strong blow to the initiatives of the designers was dealt on May 14, 1917, when, with a large gathering of senior officials, Marienwagen was shown. Its capabilities as a combat vehicle made such a depressing impression that Hindenburg and Ludendorff came to the conclusion that this type of combat vehicle was unnecessary. It was a lot of work to convince the supreme command of the opposite, since the demonstration of other prototypes of German tanks was more successful. The test results of the Orion-Wagen prototype were presented in Mainzer Protokoll, an official document that evaluated the running tests of tanks. The tests of the first prototype were held with varying success. At the first attempts of independent movement, Orion-Wagen crashed undercarriage. After refinement of the caterpillar tracks, the situation improved, but more or less calmly the tank could move exclusively on level ground, as soon as the Orion-Wagen tried to overcome even a small trench, it often got stuck in it with the front wheel. The solution seemed to be the installation of a more powerful engine, but there was no time left for its search and implementation of changes in the design. By this time, the army managed to issue an order for 50 armored chassis, though very soon it was reduced by half. Considering the features of Orion-Wagen, 29 cars were assembled, of which 16 were put into operation. The only army unit that Orion-Wagen entered in 1918 was Armee-Kraftwagen-Kolonne (Raupe) 1116. As it turned out, they also proved to be of little use in the role of transporters, even after replacing the engine with a more powerful 100-strong one. An attempt to remove or replace the front wheel was unsuccessful, and at the end of 1918 almost the transporters were understaffed, and their engines migrated to the A7V tanks.
Trefass-wagen	1916 - 1917	1917	Not produced	Partially built 1 prototype, brought to a running state	The first prototype was built by February 1, 1917 and was tested until the end of March. Its driving performance was significantly lower than that of the Mk.I , and in terms of firepower it was not much stronger than an ordinary armored car. Summarizing these data, the German Ministry of War refused to further support the Trefass-Wagen project, focusing mainly on the A7V tank. The wheel tank, which was not needed by anyone, stood for several months without movement and in October 1917 it was disassembled for metal.
A7VU		1917 - 1918	1918	1 prototype	The German tank of World War I, developed by Joseph Folmer, an engineer in the transport department of the Main Directorate of the German Army. The A7VU Sturmpanzerwagen tank was developed in mid-1918 on the basis of the Nolt tractor (Holt), using the experience of developing the A7V Sturmpanzerwagen model, the continuation of which is the A7VU. The A7V showed its low fighting efficiency in the battles at St. Kentin on March 21, 1918, and the Viler fringe - Sashi on April 21 of that year. To increase the accuracy of fire and reduce the number of crews, weapons were installed in two onboard sponsons. The chassis has been improved. In fact, the A7VU is similar in design to the British tanks of the Mk series, but has slightly larger dimensions. The German Ministry of Defense ordered 20 Daimler tanks. Only one prototype was built, which was later given away for scrap.
Landkreuzer	No image	1915 - 1917	1917	1 prototype	In 1915, when the tank program had already started in the UK, a German engineer proposed a second project, this time on a tracked track. The Landpanzerkreuzer model of the Landpanzerkreuzer presented to the commercial commission was too weak to make a positive impression. They immediately abandoned it, but Goble soon built a third demonstration model. Another "land cruiser" had a chassis with one track, like a tank design Porokhovshchikova. The hull was assembled from steel sheets, joined at an acute angle along the sides. The nose and tail were sharpened like a ram, so that the tank could more easily overcome wire barriers. In May 1917, Landpanzerkreuzer was presented for sea trials, which ended with another failure for Goble. The army no longer wanted to spend money on projects that were not of practical use, especially since work on the full-fledged Sturmpanzerwagen A7V tank began at that time, so they decided to refuse Goblet services. The story of the third "land cruiser" finally ended in June 1917. The German crown prince helped the engineer, who heard about the futile attempts to bring Landpanzerkreuzer to mind. It was he who ordered the re-demonstration to be organized, for which Goble completely redid the chassis, abandoning one track and replacing it with huge rollers. However, this option turned out to be an unclaimed army, although according to Goble’s calculations, if the Landpanzerkreuzer were built in full size, the tank could have a length of 118 feet (36 meters), a height of 17 feet (5.18 m) and a mass of about 550 tons! The thickness of the armor was 4 inches (10.16 cm).
Marienwagen i		1914 - 1917	1917	1 or 2 prototypes	In the spring of 1917, the first prototype of an improvised heavy tank was almost ready for testing, only real armor was not installed on it, replacing it with ordinary iron sheets. To demonstrate the capabilities of the Marienwagen, many high-ranking officers of the German General Staff gathered, among whom were generals Hindenburg and Ludendorf. On March 11, the prototype of the tank was rolled out to the Mainzer Sand range, but instead of the expected success, the creators of Marienwagen were waiting for a complete fiasco. The engine was not powerful enough, because of which the tank moved extremely slowly and maneuvered with difficulty even on flat terrain. In addition, the tall body shifted the center of gravity noticeably upward, thereby increasing the likelihood of the Marienwagen capsizing when crossing obstacles. The question of the armament of the tank and its more rational arrangement also remained open. Summing up these data, the General Staff noticeably cooled to the tanks, which greatly slowed down the work on a more advanced project A7V. General Ludendorff was generally against the adoption of tracked armored vehicles. The history of Marienwagen ended only a few months later. Experimentally, they tried to install a tower from the Ehrhardt armored car on an armored prototype of the tank, but this work no longer mattered. In the summer, the Marienwagen tank was dismantled for metal, but the fate of the remaining conveyors built remains unknown.
Sturmpanzerwagen "Oberschlesien"		1917 - 1918	Not produced	Not implemented in metal	German experimental tank during the First World War. The tank had a number of very progressive design decisions, however, due to the defeat of Germany in the war, the project was never implemented in metal.

Links

Armored vehicles of the German Empire on the site "www.aviarmor.net"