Heikendorf Panther Update

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PolishGI
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Heikendorf Panther Update

Post by PolishGI »

Amazing to me... Why come down on the owner now?

This article dropped yesterday.

_________________________________________________________________________

A pensioner in Germany has been convicted of illegal weapons possession after he was found to own an extensive personal arsenal including a tank.

The defendant, 84, has been handed a suspended prison sentence of 14 months and has been ordered to pay a fine of €250,000 (£213,469).

Officials found the tank and other World War Two-era military equipment at the defendant's house in the northern town of Heikendorf in 2015.

The army had to help remove the items.

On Monday, the court ordered that the defendant, who cannot be named under German privacy laws, must sell or donate the tank and an anti-aircraft cannon to a museum or collector within the next two years.

According to the defendant's lawyer, a US museum is interested in purchasing the Panther tank. Many US historians argue it was the most efficient such vehicle deployed by Germany during World War Two.

The lawyer also said that a number of German collectors had approached the defendant over other items, which included assault rifles and pistols, local media report.

Local authorities raided the property in 2015 after receiving a tip-off about the building's contents by colleagues in Berlin, who had earlier searched the home for stolen Nazi art.

It took about 20 soldiers almost nine hours to extract the Panther tank - which was without its tracks - from the property.

Local media reported that the man had been seen one winter using the tank as a snow plough.

SOURCE LINK

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Beagle
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Re: Heikendorf Panther Update

Post by Beagle »

Best, snowplow, ever.

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Re: Heikendorf Panther Update

Post by Brigade Commander »

I remember this one. The anti-aircraft gun was an 88. It always amazes me how tall the profile is / was on the 88.
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panzergator
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Re: Heikendorf Panther Update

Post by panzergator »

Snowplow? Without its tracks, the thing is just a big, 5-man rollerskate with gun. Ain't gonna plow anything but a line of cars in one direction with that. And if the track was used for snowplowing and the tank was driveable, why didn't they install the track and drive it out, as ONE man did to plow that snow?

And what did he use for a plow?

Not a lot of logic running around up there...
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Beagle
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Re: Heikendorf Panther Update

Post by Beagle »

Read the article, it says he used it as a snowplow a few years ago. I wasn’t there, just reading the words, lol.

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Re: Heikendorf Panther Update

Post by nashorn88 »

Going to buy some lottery tickets. If I win big I’ll buy it…lol
GHQ should buy it.

PolishGI
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Re: Heikendorf Panther Update

Post by PolishGI »

haha

A couple of buddies and I were talking this morning... Imagine bringing this home? I'd park it on the corner with a sign that says SLOW DOWN! (neighborhood speeders)

Or something that deals with a neighborhood watch program and good luck outrunning the gun. lol

Might be fun for the fourth of July we could have a few paint rounds fired off in Oddball's name?

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Agreed nashorn! If money was no object, I would buy a bunch up and have fun with them. Or if in museums, pay to have the museum mechanics restore each vehicle to running order. Start with the Tigers and Elefants... How cool would that be?
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panzergator
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Re: Heikendorf Panther Update

Post by panzergator »

"Homeowner is armed and looking forward to the opportunity."
All blessings flow from a good mission statement.
Pogo was right. So was Ike.
"A Gentleman is a man who is only rude intentionally." (Churchill)
Give credit. Take responsibility.

STS
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Re: Heikendorf Panther Update

Post by STS »

panzergator wrote:
Wed Aug 04, 2021 10:25 pm
Snowplow? Without its tracks, the thing is just a big, 5-man rollerskate with gun. Ain't gonna plow anything but a line of cars in one direction with that. And if the track was used for snowplowing and the tank was driveable, why didn't they install the track and drive it out, as ONE man did to plow that snow?

And what did he use for a plow?

Not a lot of logic running around up there...
The tracks were only removed when the army dragged the tank out of the owners basement, before that (and currently) it's driveable on it's tracks. The part about plowing was probably lost in translation somewhere or misquoted by the press. The press interviewed his neighbours after the Bundeswehr cleared out his basement, and they remembered that he drove around during the heavy snowfalls in 1978 and helped a friend drag out fallen trees and debris.
PolishGI wrote:
Wed Aug 04, 2021 9:52 pm
Amazing to me... Why come down on the owner now?

This article dropped yesterday.
The trial just took forever. At first was just bycatch, due to the investigation for stolen Nazi-art, which your article mentioned as well. Besides the tank and the 88mm, they also dragged out art and other weapons and ammo (mortars, mortar shells, machine guns, assault rifles, tons of small arms ammo, artillery shells and a torpedo), which had to be checked, weather they were properly demilitarized and legally purchased. Lack of experts on the subject, current strain on the German court system, and the complexity of the trial just took it's time, Covid dragged it out even further.

In the end, I think it's it's a decent ruling. The government doesn't pay for damages to his house, the weapons are going to museums** (instead of getting destroyed), he doesn't have to pay for storage and recovery of the weapons, got off on probation (usually it's a mandatory 1 year w/o probation), with time partially served because of the length of the trial, and the 250,000€ fine will mostly go to animal shelters, hospitals and SOS children's villages.

** as far as the Panther is concerned there is supposedly interest from a museum in Seattle.

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Re: Heikendorf Panther Update

Post by Vergeltungswaffe »

It's a shame to lose the awesome collection he had put together, but with their strict and comprehensive laws on war weapons, Germany is the wrong country to be doing that in.
Those who beat their swords into plowshares will plow for those who don't.

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Re: Heikendorf Panther Update

Post by BurtWolf »

If I had that thing, I’d be dressed as a panther tank every Halloween haha

Interesting story, let’s hope they find an ME262 in somebodies loft during the next art raid by the BKA.

PolishGI
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Re: Heikendorf Panther Update

Post by PolishGI »

STS wrote:
Thu Aug 05, 2021 1:48 pm
The trial just took forever. At first was just bycatch, due to the investigation for stolen Nazi-art, which your article mentioned as well. Besides the tank and the 88mm, they also dragged out art and other weapons and ammo (mortars, mortar shells, machine guns, assault rifles, tons of small arms ammo, artillery shells and a torpedo), which had to be checked, weather they were properly demilitarized and legally purchased. Lack of experts on the subject, current strain on the German court system, and the complexity of the trial just took it's time, Covid dragged it out even further.

In the end, I think it's it's a decent ruling. The government doesn't pay for damages to his house, the weapons are going to museums** (instead of getting destroyed), he doesn't have to pay for storage and recovery of the weapons, got off on probation (usually it's a mandatory 1 year w/o probation), with time partially served because of the length of the trial, and the 250,000€ fine will mostly go to animal shelters, hospitals and SOS children's villages.

** as far as the Panther is concerned there is supposedly interest from a museum in Seattle.

I guess my point is from what I understand, he had cleared it with the government when he hunted the chassis down from England, was it? It was used for target practice and was severely beat up in England. But got the clearance from Germany, picked it up and brought it back. The only concern was the gun and during the restoration process, the gun was made inoperable.

For the government to say they didnt know and NOW want to move on the vehicle (well, back in 2015) seems ridiculous. The German military apparently helped rebuild the motor on the Panther. There just arent crumbs lying around for others to pick up, there were like massive buildings lying around that anyone would notice. I guess that was the concern for everyone, why now? This was not a secret and the main gun was not functioning in order for it to avoid violating German law.

If you are into conspiracy theories, there were rumors running around that someone powerful (or museum related) wanted their hands on it so they got the authorities to go pick it up and impound it. Wait him out (age) and then move it to its final destination. I would be surprised if it leaves the country. I believe Germany has a pretty nice tank museum. But I guess we shall see.
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