The German Naval Museum at Wilhelmshaven

The East Frisian coastal region from Emden in the west to Wilhelmshaven in the east is without doubt one of the most popular holiday regions in Germany. Eastern Frisia offers a whole range of attractions and also some extremely interesting museums, including the internationally renowned Kunsthalle in Emden. For friends of Germany's military history, however, the city of Wilhelmshaven offers a very special highlight in the form of the German Naval Museum. The museum is located in the immediate vicinity of one of the largest bases of the German Navy and one of Wilhelmshaven's landmarks - the Kaiser Wilhelm Bridge, which is also well worth seeing. Founded in 1998, the museum presents the development of German military seamanship since 1848 in an impressive exhibition. Currently, the exhibition focuses on the Federal Navy and the German Navy of the former German Democratic Republic.

The famous “Enigma” decoding machines that have been used on German U-Boats during WWII.
PHOTOGRAPH BY Marc Schultz
Original Pay Book of Oberleutnant zur See Hans-Helmut Klose
PHOTOGRAPH BY Marc Schultz
Model of the German Cruiser “Wilhelm Gustloff, sunk by the soviet U-Boat S-13 in January 1945, costing the lives of up to 9.000 refugees.
PHOTOGRAPH BY Marc Schultz

In the large outdoor area, visitors have access to smaller exhibits such as guns, mines, torpedoes and also to a Lockheed F-104 "Starfighter", which was used as a fighter bomber by the West German Navy until the 1990s. The main attractions of the museum, however, are clearly the three battleships lying in the harbour basin, some of which are accessible. This group of ships includes the very impressive guided-missile destroyer "Mölders", named after Werner Mölders, one of the most famous fighter pilots of the Second World War. The "Mölders" is on permanent loan to the Naval Museum from the Bundeswehr Military Technology Study Collection. Equally impressive as the Mölders is the U-10 submarine, which was deployed at the naval base in Kiel during its active period from 1967 to 1993.

On board of the missile destroyer “Mölders”
PHOTOGRAPH BY Marc Schultz
Bridge of the “Mölders”
PHOTOGRAPH BY Marc Schultz
German U-Boat U-10, in service from 1967 - 2003
PHOTOGRAPH BY Marc Schultz

The exhibits in the open-air grounds are rounded off by an extensive and similarly interesting permanent exhibition on the history of the German Navy from the 19th century to the present day. An average of 100,000 visitors come to Wilhelmshaven every year to learn about the fascinating history of the Navy in Germany.

The museum’s open space exhibition
PHOTOGRAPH BY Marc Schultz

Further details about the museum and the current opening hours can be found at www.marinemuseum.de

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Marc Schultz

Marc is based in Wuppertal in the western part of Germany and works as a specialist for business information in Cologne. As a former private pilot Marc has flown light-aircraft for more than 30 years. So it It is quite obvious that he still has a strong interest in things with wings and is frequent visitor to European aviation museums. After retiring from active flying Marc concentrated on photography and had been accepted as a member of the International Society for Aviation Photography - ISAP. He is a regular contributor to aviation magazines and calender-productions. His work is presented on http://www.flugsicht.com.