Möbelwagen

Flakpanzer IV "Möbelwagen"
Museum display with an incorrect 40mm gun.
Type	Self-propelled anti-aircraft gun
Place of origin	Nazi Germany
Production history
Manufacturer	Deutsche Eisenwerke
Produced	March 1944 — March 1945
No. built	240
Specifications
Mass	24 tonnes
Length	5.92 m (19 ft 5 in)
Width	2.95 m (9 ft 8 in)
Height	2.73 m (8 ft 11 in)
Crew	6
Armor	10 - 80 mm
Main armament	1 × 3.7 cm Flak 43 416 rounds
Secondary armament	1 × 7.92mm MG 34 600 rounds
Engine	12-cylinder Maybach HL120 TRM 300 PS (296 hp, 221 kW)
Power/weight	12.5 PS/tonne
Suspension	Leaf spring
Operational range	200 km (120 mi)
Maximum speed	38 km/h (24 mph)

The 3.7 cm Flak auf Fahrgestell Panzerkampfwagen IV (sf) (Sd.Kfz. 161/3), nicknamed Möbelwagen ("Moving Van") because of its boxy shape, was a self-propelled anti-aircraft gun built from the chassis of the Panzer IV tank. It was used by the Wehrmacht in the European Theatre of World War II.

Möbelwagen in northern France, June 21, 1944

In 1943, due to the waning ability of the Luftwaffe to combat enemy ground-attack aircraft, ground-based anti-aircraft weaponry was becoming increasingly important to the Wehrmacht. In early 1943, the idea of creating a gun platform on the chassis of the Panzer IV was first proposed. The prototype displayed to Hitler on December 7, 1943, used the 2 cm Flakvierling 38, which was deemed too weak for the latest aircraft, which were constantly being improved to fly higher and faster. Only a single prototype with this gun was produced before the design was rejected. A second design with an upgraded single 3.7 cm Flak 43 L/89 was approved as a temporary stopgap until better Flakpanzers could be created. 240 Möbelwagens were built, and the first production models were put into service on the Western Front in April 1944.

The Möbelwagen was built on Panzer IV chassis that had been damaged on the Eastern Front and returned to the factory for repair. These were fitted with an open-top superstructure that provided the gun mount. Around this, four hinged 20 mm armored plates were placed. These plates had two operating positions: they could be lowered for full 360 degree traverse, allowing flat or low-level firing, or they could be half-closed, being pinned together to hang slightly open. In this position, they had notches that allowed the gun full rotation, but only for firing at airborne targets. Still, both of these positions left the crew extremely vulnerable. The fully closed position was only used for transport, when the plates would give the crew some protection from small arms fire and shrapnel.

Though the Möbelwagen was intended to be a stopgap, it served the anti-aircraft platoons of the Panzer Divisions on the Western Front. Only 240 were produced, and it was eventually succeeded by the first true Flakpanzers: Wirbelwind and Ostwind, both of which provided the crew with improved armored protection and full rotation when firing at either ground or air targets.

Comparable vehicles

• 40M Nimród
• Ostwind
• M19 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage
• Crusader Mk. III Anti-Aircraft Tank Mk. I
• ZSU-37

Bibliography

• Doyle, Hilary Louis & Jentz, Thomas L. (2023). Flakpanzer IV and Other Flakpanzer Projects. Panzer Tracts. Vol. 12–1 (revised ed.). Old Heathfield, UK: Panzerwrecks. ISBN 978-1-915969-18-7.

External links

• Information about the Möbelwagen at Panzerworld
• Mobelwagen at Military History Encyclopedia
• Surviving Panzer IV variants - A PDF file presenting the Panzer IV variants (Jagdpanzer IV, Hummel, Nashorn, Brummbär, StuG IV, Flakpanzer tanks and prototypes based on Pz IV) still existing in the world