Big Bertha

Big Bertha is a euphonious term for an unusually large example of a class of object; notable examples include:

Military guns:

Vehicles:

Fictional characters:

Other uses:

Big Bertha (howitzer)

Big Bertha (German: Dicke Bertha)—literal translation "Fat (or heavy) Bertha"—is the name of a type of super-heavy howitzer developed by the armaments manufacturer Krupp in Germany on the eve of World War I. Its official designation was the L/12, i.e., the barrel was 12 calibre in length, 42-cm (16.5 inch) Type M-Gerät 14 (M-Equipment 1914) Kurze Marine-Kanone ("short naval gun", a name intended to camouflage the weapon's real purpose).

Name

The howitzer was mainly designed by Krupp's Director of design, Professor Fritz Rausenberger, and his predecessor, Director Max Dreger (1852–1929). Many sources say that Bertha is a reference to Bertha Krupp, heiress and owner of the Krupp industrial empire. Not all accept this connection. During the war, the Germans gave numerous other nicknames to the M-Device. ("Dicke", meaning fat or big in German, is apparently not a reference to the physical aspect of Mrs. Krupp.) The name "Big Bertha" subsequently came to be applied generically by the Allies to any very large German gun, such as the railway-mounted battleship guns known as "Langer Max" and the ultra-long range "Paris Gun". Strictly speaking, Dicke Bertha, or Big Bertha, is only applicable to the 42-cm M-Gerät howitzer.

Big Bertha (drum)

Big Bertha is a bass drum used by the Longhorn Band of The University of Texas at Austin. The Big Bertha name was chosen to evoke the famous German Big Bertha howitzer.

Description

The university claims Big Bertha to be the world's largest drum; it measures 8 feet (2.44 m) in diameter, 44 inches (1.12 m) in depth, and stands 10 feet (3 m) tall when on its four-wheeled cart. The drum weighs more than 500 pounds (230 kg). Big Bertha is wheeled onto the field for the half-time show during varsity football games, and is used in other occasions such as parades and spirit rallies. The drum is managed by the Bertha Crew, sometimes called "drum wranglers." The crew move the drum and play it after touchdowns. Big Bertha is nicknamed the "Sweetheart of the Longhorn Band".

History

In 1922, the University of Chicago commissioned C.G. Conn Instruments to build a bass drum for the school. Its first use was in the 1922 game versus rival Princeton University. When the University of Chicago ended its varsity football program, the drum was stored under the school's bleachers. It later became radioactively contaminated as a result of research for the Manhattan Project conducted at the stadium during the 1940s.