Captured German Weaponry - Missouri State Museum - Jefferson City, MO
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 38° 34.735 W 092° 10.357
15S E 572067 N 4270374
Display in the Military Gallery of the Missouri State Museum, on the 1st floor, east wing, of the Missouri State Capital building.
Waymark Code: WM10QBR
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 06/10/2019
Views: 2
County of display: Cole County
Location of display: 201 W. Capitol Ave., 1st floor, Military Veterans Gallery, Missouri State Museum, State Capitol Building, Jefferson City
Erected by: State Historical Society of Missouri
Marker Text:
Captured German Weaponry
After the armistice ending the Great War, the United States and other Allied nations, confiscated military armament from Germany and Austra-Hungary. Everything from belt buckles to large artillery pieces became the property of the victors.
In June 1924, the U.S. Congress passed an act distributing allotments of captured was trophies, in proportion to the number of men credited with service from each state or territory. The Adjutant General of Missouri took charge of the state's allotment, handling all requests and distribution. Institutions willing to pay the shipping from Washington D.C. were eligible. Museums, city and county governments, American Legion posts, libraries and universities from across Missouri clamored for a piece of history.
The Missouri State Museum, established shortly after the war as the Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Hall, acquired some of Missouri's allotment. The museum's collection contains a variety of German equipment and weaponry, including this Minenwerfer. Several other pieces are displayed throughout the exhibit.
German Three-inch Light Trench Mortar (on platform)
[7.58-cm leichtes Minenwerfer neuer Art], 1916
Range: Approximately 500-3,600 feet
Introduced in 1916, this is a variant of the German Minenwerfer or "mine thrower" developed before the Great War. The new model has a longer barrel the than the original and can rotate 360°. As an infantry weapon, the Minenwerfer required four men or two horses to pull/push it into position, and a four-to-six-man crew to fire. The carriage design allowed for the easy removal of the wheels, which increased the mortar's accuracy when fired from its base.
[Photo Caption: Five German artillery pieces occupied the Capitol grounds until World War II. This 1934 image shows tourists possing on a 150mm German Howitzer on the river side of the Missouri State Capitol.
Courtesy Henry Gensky.]