Matthäus Bayer, Panzerknacker II

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				Price:    USD 130,000

Description

‘Panzerknacker II’ (‘Tank Breaker II’)
Biography: Matthäus Bayer

Over-life-size figure, carved from a single block of oak wood (2.4 meter long)
Created in 1945 and placed in the Spreti Kaserne (barracks) in Ingolstadt (Grenadier-Ersatz-Battaillon 63).
One of a pair (Panzerknacker I and II).

The figure depicts a soldier in an attack position, holding a Panzerknacker in his hand, ready for use against enemy tanks. He has the Iron Cross 1st Class (EK1) prominently displayed on his chest, a grenade is attached to his belt, further emphasizing the combat readiness portrayed in the sculptur.

Depicted and described in the personal photo album of Matthäus Bayer, in which the artist documented his pre-1945 works created at the Russian front, and at home. Titled ‘AUS MEINER ARBEIT’ and signed ‘Feldw. Matthäus Bayer, I.G.Ers.Kp.407 Ingolstadt, 1943’; in possession of German Art Gallery, see biography.
The text reads:
‘PANZERKNACKER’ -IN EICHE AUS EINEM BLOCK FREIGEHAUEN 1945
GREN. ERS. BTL. 63, INGOLSTADT, SPRETI-KASERNE
(‘PANZERKNACKER‘ -CARVED FROM A SINGLE BLOCK OF OAK 1945
GREN. ERS. BTL. 63, INGOLSTADT, SPRETI-KASERNE)

The Panzerknacker, also known as ‘Hafthohlladung’ was a magnetically adhered, shaped charge anti-tank grenade used by German forces in World War II, and was sometimes described as a mine. The Panzerknacker was primarily used by Wehrmacht tank killer squads. Designed with three magnets at the base, each with a pair of poles creating a strong magnetic field across their gap, an infantryman could attach it to an enemy’s tank no matter the angle of the surface. However, since this required direct placement on an enemy tank by an infantryman, using the device was very dangerous, since the deploying infantryman placing it on an enemy fighting vehicle would be highly vulnerable to enemy fire. The Hafthohlladung device was very effective against armour, able to penetrate 140 mm of rolled homogeneous armour (RHA).

The ‘Panzerknacker’.
  

‘Spreti Kaserne’ in Ingolstadt (also named Cavalier Spreti). Demolished in 1962.

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