Tiger primer

Service regulation D 656/27 was a technical manual for the crew of the Tiger tanks. Compared to its predecessors, the Tiger was considerably more complex, which was reflected in increased maintenance costs. As Tiger failures were partly attributed to errors in the maintenance and operation of the vehicles, in August 1943 (almost a year after the introduction of the Tiger), the Inspector General of Armored Forces Heinz Guderian had a new type of training manual published in rhyme form: “Read your Tiger manual carefully, otherwise your Tiger will be in trouble.”

With short sayings as well as humorous and erotic illustrations, the teaching material was designed to be attractive and particularly catchy. In the illustrations, the tank is often compared to a woman: “Whether blonde, black, white or gray, surround her like your bride. The effect is tremendous: one touch and she catches fire!” or “Like this woman, many a target often seems unpredictable.” Some sayings are very clearly ambiguous: “The slob – if he comes to the shot – brings the inhibition around the high pleasure.”

The appendix contains five panels that show the range of enemy tanks in order to exploit their weak points in the event of a “duel”. The tanks are depicted as people – the use of racist stereotypes is particularly clear in the case of the US American Lee: “General Lee” is an anti-Semitic caricature with curly hair, a large nose and a Star of David.

Saving fuel and ammunition was also a major topic in the primer: “For every grenade you shoot, your father has paid 100 RM in taxes, your mother has worked in the factory for a week, the train has traveled 10,000 km!” But even the greatest savings could not help: The German Reich quickly suffered from a shortage of raw materials. This shortage could not be remedied by the conquest of oil-rich areas in the Soviet Union and Romania or the production of fuel with the help of concentration camp prisoners. Like many other Wehrmacht vehicles, the Tigers came to a standstill at the end of the war not only due to enemy action and technical defects, but also due to a lack of fuel.

The mixture of pictures and rhymes seems to have been rated as effective: A primer in the same style was also published for the Panther. And even after the war, the young Bundeswehr continued to use this method with publications such as the “Safety Primer” or the semi-official “Fahr taktisch richtig – ein Knigge für Kettenfahrer”, even if these were much more chaste. In “Ketten-Knigge”, Guderian even appears as a drawn figure along with Tiger himself – thus completing the historical circle. However, the didactic trend did not last long; the format quickly disappeared.

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(short) stories from the depot

Unfortunately, many objects cannot currently be shown in the exhibition for conservation reasons. Here you will find unusual objects and exciting stories of special pieces from the depot