The A7V - German WWI replica tank | The Tank Museum 

i live in Australia and have actually seen the A7V at the museum in Brisbane... had no idea it was the last one ever! cool!

0:42 Someone slow this speed demon down

A little known fact about the A7V German Heavy tank is that the Germans had the ability to quickly auto repair whilst in combat by pressing 3.

Just imagine the unbelievable rage in BF1 if players had to deal with this kind of speed. It would be epic, god damned spoiled gamers.

All of people here talk like this tank is slow... I was impressed that 1st tank in history was even moving

my maternal Grandfater had an encounter with one while driveing his ambulance back from “the front”. while driveing though a barrage on a village, he was suddley infron on one of these, and squads of german troups. the commander in the tank on see his red crosses, orders all tropus to stop shootings, let a ricocket hit the veichle. he then got out (or hand outthe door) ofthe tank, and waved my garpop past, and as pop passed, saluted him. such honor was not the only time he met german chivalry during WW1.

I have affectionately nicknamed the A7V the "Doom Caboose" because it looks like the caboose on a train, just with guns. I could see the tracks on the A7V removed and replaced with railway wheels and used as a caboose or brake van for a military train in WW1 or 2.

damn straight, the other nations cut up the ones they had captured for scrap in the 20s or 30s, we captured it, we shipped it here and be damned if we are going to give it back. It is like the old saying from that war. "the British fought for glory, the French fought for land, the Germans fought for an Empire and the Australians fought for souvenirs"

I've seen the only surviving original, it's on display at the Australian War Memorial, along with several other rare machines. The tank is nicknamed Mephisto. It was an incredible experience to be able to see it up close.

The A7V had one of the worst crew arrangements you can imagine. It needed a crew of seventeen, not counting the commanding officer. A typical crew was the commander, a driver, two mechanics (one of whom doubled as a signaler), six machine gunners and six assistants, and two men to operate the main gun. The crews were cobbled together from different branches of the army so that they didn't have to train crews from scratch. The driver and mechanics came from the logistics service (IIRC, I may well be wrong about that), the machine gunners and their assistants were from the infantry, and the gun crew were from the artillery. One complaint supposedly heard from an A7V crewman once was, "The artillery let us down today." He wasn't talking about fire support -- instead, he was complaining about members of his own crew.

Imagine the faces of the soldiers when they first came against these monsters. Bless them all.

Germany produced only 20!! are you sure? because i destroyed at least 50 of them in bf1

its not a tank, its a shelter on tracks

0:42 m8 we're gonna have to see your licence, do you know how fast you were going.

It's the worst tank, but looks cool as fuck, it's like a mobile bunker

Great video, tank you... I'll show myself out.

A cunning plan that the British tank looks like it is going forwards in a threatening manner even when it is stopped. German tank designed by Blue Peter - first you'll need one shoe box ... Brilliant to see them both like that, replicas or not.

I've seen the real deal here in Australia,the size and mass of it really doesn't come through on a screen,even if they weren't that good in the war seeing a few slowly crossing no man's land towards our line would have been terrifying.

Amazing, the last one is in Australia, incredible story of how the aussies got it off the germans

A lot of people in the comments are going on about how slow the A7V was, but it was actually one of the fastest tanks of the war. It could reach 15 km/h on a good road, whereas the Mark IV and Renault FT couldn't even reach half of that

i like how everyone makes bf1 references, also the true nickname of this tank should be the "fridge"

I live in Brisbane Australia and use to play in the real A7V as child at the Brisbane Museum, Mephisto as it was named by the germans as they named each tank just sat out side in the yard for the public. It was very dilapidated but have vivid memories of being inside and the gun ports. Now its in a Glass case and the public cant go near it just view it, as they now know the historical value even the Germans don't have one and came over and measured it for there replica.

The last one is at the Queensland museum in Australia. I met the draftsman back in 1984 when he was doind the engineering drawings for the German. I crawled around inside the tank back in the 60's. good fun.

I'm watching this in anticipation of my visit to the German Tank Museum. The repulica shown here is nothing short of amazing, I can't wait to be able to touch a similar vehicle with my own hands!

I want to live in Bovington Museum! If I had the space, I would be refurbishing a tank myself. I am so intrigued by the challenges they present!!!! We have a firefly here that hasn't been touched in yeeeeeaaaars.

They also have a A7V copy at the German Museun at Munster, south of Hamburg. I've seen it.

hold x to repair.

Yes, we captured a real one! It’s in the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. What a beast it is, and all due respect to the brave souls who went to battle in her.

We got the real deal in Australia. Amazing to be near her!

Keep getting replicas made... they are so great... and it’s excellent recycling of old excavators...

It's a bunker on tracks. Just like the Maus.

That’s a very professional way of driving a museum! 👍🏻

You've got the admit the paint job looks gorgeous

all you need now is a replica whippet and a Renault FT17 and you will have an amazing set.

The A7V that is in Australia is at the Brisbane Museum, Queensland, Australia was in the front of the Museum (in the weather) for many years. I don't if it's still outside or they're have moved it.

the very first tank engage meant the German tank Retreated, "Germany did not focus on building tanks, but rather focused on building Anti Tank guns and AP ammo for the K 98

Yes the tank museum as a replica But us Aussies have the real thing (as he mentioned) all though she's pretty wounded

If I ever manage to make a trip to the UK, I'm definitely going to be visiting your museum. :)

looks like one of those Kurdish tanks used in Syria.

Question! When you say 'replica', do you mean that this is just a visual mock up, or does the tank function as it should? I.E. Armor, horse power, weight, ect... (Of course, I assume that the guns don't function.)

Greetings from Canberra. Mephisto is on permanent display as the ANZACs captured the hapless beast in boggy ground in no mans land and shipped it straight to AUS. Come and see it for free any time.

The reason the Germans produced only 20 tanks (there were more advanced designs than the A7V) was that they were running out of steel in 1917. They could either make canons or tanks and sensibly production of canon won out because at least they could destroy enemy tanks. The steel shortage was so severe helmets had to be made thinner. This is one of the main reasons Germany lost WW1. This experience effected WW2: the onset of WW2 the British launched “Operation Wilfred” to invade Norway at the port of Narvick which would cut of most German iron ore. The Germans had feared this and their intelligence discovered the date and so they invaded Norway the day before the British force arrived. The invasion of Norway required the invasion of Denmark to secure supply routes against the Royal Navy as the Luftwaffe was still occupied in France.

I thought American Soldiers and Sailors were good at taking souvenirs from the battlefield, but my hat's off to the Aussies for acquiring a bloody A7V German tank and taking it back to Australia.

Good to know. I just played The Great War Western Front and I was under the impression A7V was much more common.

Hi, Bob in NJ from the North East Armored Division in the USA. My buddies Martin, Dennis & Steve attended the "Tiger Day" last March and had a great time. Well worth the 100 pounds it cost. GO SEE THESE TANKS RUN AND DRIVE FOR YOURSELF. It is a chance of a lifetime. They are mobile pieces of history. Visit Bovington and have a blast....tell them Bob from New Jeresy sent you. Cheers

Makes me proud to live in Brisbane Australia where the real A7V is but i would still love to go to tankfest and see one moving.

Finally, there is something called a "Tankfest." I can die now.

a true beauty

I wonder if the replica makers kept their plans, measurements, blueprints, notes, etc,.... Im sure many museums would like even a static replica of plywood, angle iron, and fiberglass.

You'd think they'd make replicas that are exact. Like the same engine, same parts, same bolts, hand-made parts and only the metallurgy changed. Still good to see someone cares about these old beasts.

One school of thought was the tanks would become the 'Land Ships' many had envisioned to be the weapons of the future. Battleships on tracks, cruising across the land. So bigger was the way to go. And so they build the A7V. There were other projects for small lightweight tanks but priority was given to the 'Land Ship'

I live in the city in Australia where the last real A7V is situated, I had heard they were going to restore it, but no news on that yet.

The German tank now in Australia was lost at the Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux on 24 April 1918. The battle for the area saw the Australian, British and German forces in a fluid situation, moving around the tank, which had been disabled after falling into a ditch and still had dead crew inside.

The US armed forces should have a replica and park it beside every military project. The A7V demonstrates what happens when a committee/politicians design and makes decisions instead of listening to the soldiers that actually know what there doing.

It would be great, if they took both of the tanks, to the first ever spot where both type of tanks meet during WW1.

So much history i like the WW1 tanks !

I love these BF1 comments...having fun to see some players know some IRL stats and the fun vibe in the game :)

I only just left the Brisbane Museum where it is held, as I am writing this.

0:19 it is pronounced arena not arener. I do like these tanks. A true sized replica is awesome to see especially a rolling one.

Would be amazing to see these two have a mock battle

Great tank ever

Strangely enough, Queensland Australia, of all places, is a great centre for German historical armour. Queensland has the only original german A7V...and the Australian Armour and Artillery museum is the largest private tank museum in the world and has a big collection of German armour.

(Tank approches battlefield) Soldier: "dafuck is that?"

thats so much better as of the looks then it is now.

The A7V was said to have ran at around 9 mph to put into perspective, the average human run speed is 15 mph

Anything that German dream is BIG😁👏👏🙏

Interesting video----I hadn't even known that Germany had tanks in WWl...or even anything close to the British tanks of the period...I'm glad I found this...thankyou for posting!

People say that Germany had bad tanks in WW1, but nobody knows about the "Sturmpanzerwagen Oberschlesien", which was a WW1 German tank concept. It had a proper revolving turret and tank-ish look. So if Germany did no get economical problems, and could keep the war going, then they might have been able to build better tanks. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturmpanzerwagen_Oberschlesien

I’ve touched the A7V tank in Australia 🇦🇺 it is located in the war memorial inside Cambria which is the capital

The Australian A7V "Mephisto" and the female Mk IV Female tank (both from the collection of the Australian War Memorial) will be doing a special tour of Australia to help commemorate the First World War. Look out for this very special and unique experience.

Note that they admit that they will never get their hands on "Mephisto", which is in the Queensland Museum's collection. The same also goes for the Australian War Memorial: they want "Mephisto" too, but they're not going to get it either. :-)

Just awesome and a smart move to supplement and enhance the appreciation of the original artifacts. I am going to start my FT-17 project in Texas in 16 months and am quite excited.

For a die-hard historian this tank must be somewhat of a mixed bag. On the one hand they get to see a moving A7V which really does look and sound the part. On the other hand it's hardly more than a steel box with an engine inside made to look like an A7V. I can't find any pictures of the interior, but my guess is that there's nothing there except the engine and maybe two seats for the people driving it. But since only 20 tanks were ever built and only one original survives in Brisbane ("Mephisto"), this is the next best thing.

I built a full scale running FT WWI tank "replica" or at least running and shooting model. Lots of fun. Mine is not museum quality but a lot of bang for limited bucks.

Please read this info :) A7V tank from World War I on the bottom Wieprz river? It may be the first original in Europe! google it :)

saw one in the Panzermuseum Munster imagine when this thing rolling at you and you have never seen a tank before

It's 2019! Missed it

For a replica it looks pretty damn accurate!!!!

Thanks.

I could imagine that it must be very "touching" when you stand next to these beasts moving. :-)

actually i watched this because of War Horse and Indiana Jones, but it's cool to see these in the video games Battlefield 1, cause you really do not see them in world of tanks video games.

They've got some nice box out of there

*Hears the last A7V In the world is in Australia* I live there :D

0:55, sounds just like my grandmother!

interesting to see that the replicas since they are not heavy with real armor, do not put out all the exhaust smoke like the real ones did as seen in the old footage.

Ist nice to See it.thanks

Wow, ich wusste nicht, dass es den ersten deutschen Panzer überhaupt gab!

But the Mark IV could do what it was designed to do: Cross trenches. The A7V with its long overhangs had the same problems as the old French Saint-Chamond. Getting stuck crossing bombarded land. As the war drew to a close Germany was designing a copy of the Mark IV. Where they were going to get oil to power them is anybody's guess. Once they no longer had neither the Romanian oil fields, not the fields of Baku they were doomed. Germany was using horses until they dropped already.

I’ve just seen Mephisto, here in Brisbane, not quite a “fresh” as this one but it has amazing presence, it’s not often you can see something rarer than moon rocks

I love the sound of its engine

I have taken photos of the A7V in the AWM and the inside of it as well i stuck my selfie stick in the hatch

Funny how everyone Calls it an "Immobile Bunker", when it had one of the best Power-to-weight ratios of any WW1-tank. All of them were meant as slowly moving Bunkers......

thats wicked i want one

It would like to see another replica (non-running) with realistic interior, and the opportunity for a visitor to climb inside.

*A tank hunter kit is avalible near your location*

i saw the a7v the one in Australia amazing machine

I have played in the original at the Brisbane museum when i was a kid.

Thats my fav tank in battlefield 1

Great news, can't wait to see it in action

The 26th Battalion of the 7th Brigade, from Queensland, hatched a plan to capture it so it could not be used by the Germans. In July 1918 after launching an artillery barrage, the Infantry moved forward and dragged it back to their lines, the Germans started firing at them. They had to don gas masks after poison gas was deployed. The tank was then graffitied by Australian troops, with a painting of the AIF rising sunemblem. Machinations began to take the tank back to Australia,