Panzer

Encyclopedia : P : PA : PAN : Panzer

Panzer I Ausf. A, a six-ton light tank first built in 1934

Leutnant Helmut Frohberg German 11th Panzer Division

A panzer is a tank, usually a Second World War German model. The term is rarely, if ever, used outside this context. Panzer also describes armoured forces, as in "panzer division".

Panzer is a loanword from German. The German noun means armour in the sense of protective equipment such as Plattenpanzer (plate armour) or Schutzpanzer (protective armour), or armoured forces (today, tank organizations and the tanks themselves). The term gained infamy in English during Germany's successful Blitzkrieg armoured advances of World War II. It is derived from the French pancier ("breastplate", compare English ). German pronunciation [ˈpanʦer] ([listen] ([Media helphelp]·[info])), English [ˈpænzɝ]. The word has been calqued in many languages, such as Swedish "pansarvagn" or Finnish "panssarivaunu" for any tracked armoured fighting vehicle.

German panzers

Panzer is also an abbreviation of the WWII German designation for tanks, Panzerkampfwagen ("armoured combat vehicle", abbreviated PzKpfw), used by the German Waffen-SS and Wehrmacht. German panzer models were given designations like Panzer I, or Panzer VI Tiger. For a list, see German armoured fighting vehicles of World War II. "PzKpfW" means literally the same as AFV (armoured fighting vehicle).

Individual variations of these basic marks were given an Ausführung (version) letter, and consequently the field of Panzer recognition is extremely complex. Great lengths have been gone to explain the differences between a Pz.Kpfw III Ausf. E(U) and a Pz.Kpfw III Ausf. F(U), for example. The word panzer is occasionally confused with the name of the Pzkpfw V Panther tank.

Tank destroyers were Panzerjäger or Jagdpanzer ("hunting tanks"), self-propelled infantry guns were Sturmgeschütze ("assault guns"), while self-propelled artillery pieces were usually referred to as Sonderkraftfahrzeug ("special-purpose vehicle").

See also

• Panzertruppe
• Panzerfaust
• German AFVs of World War II
• Przemek Kromolowski vel kromi

Other uses

• In some forms of coalminers' jargon, a panzer is a type of underground conveyor belt for carrying coal, made entirely out of metal.
• Erik "Panzer" Hagen

External links

• [Detailed information about every aspect of the Panzerkampfwagen VI at the Tiger I Information Center]

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.