BAVARIAN ARMY MUSEUM - INGOLSTADT
Big Guns and Fat Uniforms at the New Castle
If
you’ve always wondered
how big Kaiser Wilhelm’s head
really was or Otto Von Bismarck’s stomach, you can find their original
helmet, hats, coats, armor and uniforms at the Bavarian
Army Museum located in the Neu Castle in Ingolstadt, Bavaria Germany
about 40 minutes north of Munich by rail or car.
And believe
me, they
were
indeed large figures of history, so to speak.
Ingolstadt, a lovely walled
city along the Danube River (Donau) is home to one of the oldest universities
in Europe which was the literary birthplace of Mary Shelly's Frankenstein
creature (see GRAB
YOUR PITCHFORK). Also
not far away is the home to the new Willy Messerchmitt museum
(see also LUFTWAFFE
MEMORIES - A STROLL
DOWN HENKEL LANE).
The walls which surround the old center city are lined with colorful
flowers in spring and summer draping from
apartments still within the
walls. The town market squares of the old city are full of shops
and small eateries. Walking from the train station you can see
the "New Castle" (Neues Schloss) of
Ingolstadt,
a red roofed fortress
surrounded
by
a moat which has been turned into the museum of Bavarian Military
History. Unmistakably,
the
front
entrance
is lined
with a row
of massive cannon barrels, green with the patina of oxidation,
waiting for the invasion.
Get Mary Shelley Frankenstein Diaries Audio Book Free w/Trial
A
self-guided tour through six floors of military memorabilia takes you
through the centuries. The
bottom floors are devoted to excellent
and well preserved armor from the 12th to 16th Century. Climbing higher
takes you through successive ages of swords, pikes, powder and canons
of the gunpowder age. Upper floors displays swords and guns from all
ages to WWII. Higher still, you find progressions of uniforms, including
ornate helms and top hats, uniforms, black
frock coats and great coats, the ceremonial armor of
Kaisers, Generals and other great figures of German history who have
only been names in history books. For those war game modelers and strategy players looking for authentic
battle recreations, the top floor of the castle tower contains a massive
diorama of the Battle of Leuth with 17,000 hand-painted figurines.
For backpackers, don’t bother looking for a campsite but also on display here is the Tent of the Grand Vizier Suleiman the Magnificent, taken by the Bavarian Army in the epic struggles between the Hapsburgs and the Ottoman Turks (see Osijek Tvarda) when the great Turk general King almost conquered western Europe. Camp out in a tent fit for a potentate. © Bargain Travel Europe
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SEE ALSO:
A
TOUR WALK AROUND MUNICH
BAD DURKHEIM SAUSAGE FESTIVAL - GERMAN WINE ROAD
ESSEN KRUPP SECRET
WAR FACTORIES
