The Bundeswehr Museum of Military History

The Bundeswehr Museum of Military History in Dresden offers two approaches to military history, which are reflected both in the architecture and the design of the exhibition. The Museum consists of two parts: the arsenal that was built in the 1870s and the new extension designed by U.S. architect Daniel Libeskind, completed in 2011. Shaped like a wedge, the extension cuts through the old arsenal. The play of light and shade produced by the new wedge symbolizes the eventful military history of Germany.

Both the architecture and the permanent exhibition of the Bundeswehr Museum of Military History seek to avoid biased presentations and challenge traditional perspectives.
The exhibition shows violence as a historical, cultural and anthropological phenomenon. All in all, some 10,000 exhibits are presented in an exhibition area of 13,000 square metres.

The new extension of Daniel Libeskind houses a thematic exhibition, where the exhibits are not presented in chronological order. It focuses on very different and sometimes surprising aspects of military history.

A chronological journey through German military history awaits the visitor in the wings of the old building. This journey comprises three periods (late Middle Ages to 1914; Age of World Wars; 1945 to the present). In this part of the Museum, German military history is embedded in the developments of European history.

The Bundeswehr Museum of Military History aims to open new avenues of thought. It is a platform for public debate on war and the military in the past, present, and future.