Möbelwagen (Furniture wagon)

The Möbelwagen was a direct transformation from the PzKpfw IVs that were returned to factory from the Eastern Front for repair. On the first prototype, the turret was replaced by a 20mm Flakvierling. However, it was found that the firepower of the light quadruple guns was not very strong. Thus the rest of the production of 240 vehivles was armed with a single 37mm anti-aircraft gun instead. In spite of its lower rate of fire, the 37mm was more deadly against Soviet, and later American and British ground-attack aircraft and fighter-bombers that had fairly heavy armor protection. On the Möbelwagen the anti-aircraft gun was surrounded by four thin armored doors. The armor provided the crew with some protection from small arms fire and shell splinters while the vehicle was in motion. However, the doors had to be dropped flat to let the gun rotate when it was in combat. This rendered the vehicle and crew vulnerable just like a gun on an unarmored half-track. This was a waste of a reliable tank chassis, and thus attention was shifted to the Wirbelwind & Ostwind armored anti-aircraft vehicles.

Click on one of the thumbnails below to view the full picture.
	Technical data and/or diagram of Möbelwagen.
	A Möbelwagen, armed with the 20mm Flakvierling with the armor flaps in closed positions.
	The same Möbelwagen with the armor flaps in open positions.
	A Möbelwagen, armed with the 37mm anti-aircraft gun, with the armor flaps in closed positions.
	A 37mm Möbelwagen in combat position.

Back to German Flakpanzers Page
Back to Heer Page
Back to Homepage