A pensioner in Germany has been dealt a hefty fine after illegal weapons were found in his possession, including a World War 2 tank!
The 84-year-old man was convicted of illegal weapons possession for various items, including a Panther tank, flak cannon and several other items of military equipment from World War 2.
My, my – he’s quite the collector!
So what’s he getting for it?
Well, the state district in the city of Kiel (North Germany) has awarded him a suspended prison sentence of 14 months, followed by a fine of 250,000 euros – equivalent to $400,000 Australian.
The district also ordered the man – whose identity remains undisclosed – to sell or donate the 40-tonne tank to a museum or collector by 2023.
Come on, guys. Finders keepers, right?
Soviet troops inspect a destroyed Panther tank. #tanks #history #WW2 pic.twitter.com/X0CLW46kdF
— Tank Archives (@Tank_Archives) August 2, 2021
So how did this discovery come about?
Apparently, authorities raided the collector’s storage facility in the north of Germany in an attempt to track down Nazi art traded on the black market, which included two bronze horse statues that once lived out the front of Adolf Hitler’s Chancellery.
Apparently, the collector made zero attempts to mask the possession, even using the tank as a snowplough during one particularly bad winter.
I wish I had found a Panther tank in my grandfather’s garage back then. Would’ve been perfect for winter trips in the Ardennes 👌😅 pic.twitter.com/oazuUypCOH
— David Vandenberghe (@Davdberg) August 3, 2021
Real talk, that’s almost too funny to be true.
It took around 20 soldiers and 9 hours to remove the Panther tank from the property.
According to the collector’s lawyer, a museum in the United States is currently interested in purchasing the tank, which many historians argue was the most efficient of its kind during World War 2 Germany.
Perhaps. Well, we certainly know it was efficient enough to clear out the snow during that bad winter, right?
Maybe the museum guys don’t even want it for their museum. Maybe they’re just having a particularly bad winter, too.
