Start of the process in Kiel: Is it allowed to have a tank in the garage?

The pictures of the Wehrmacht tank from the cellar of a villa on the Kiel Fjord went around the world in the summer of 2015. It took soldiers nine hours to laboriously secure the almost 40-tonne device without chains using salvage tanks. Almost six years after the spectacular action with bizarre scenes in the posh suburb, the trial of the 84-year-old owner began on Friday in front of the Kiel district court. The frail-looking defendant appeared in room 232 in a jacket with gold buttons. He looked composed, looked directly into the numerous cameras - and looked like someone who is convinced that he was not to blame.

The accused are violating the War Weapons Control Act and other provisions of the law on weapons. In essence, it is about whether the armored car of the type "Panther" and other military equipment falls under the War Weapons Control Act. According to public prosecutor Thorsten Wolke, the tank is still considered a weapon of war. The genus alone is sufficient for this, he said. Because the defendant was busy with a true-to-original restoration, there was at least an attempt to manufacture a weapon of war. The public prosecutor's office also regards the anti-aircraft cannon and other seized weapons as weapons of war.

During a search in July 2015 in the underground car park of the villa in a suburb of Kiel directly on the fjord, a torpedo, a mortar with a caliber of 5 centimeters and an anti-aircraft cannon with a caliber of 8.8 centimeters were also found.

Investigators also found machine and assault rifles, semi and fully automatic pistols and more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition.

According to defense attorney Gerald Goecke, several weapons were on the man's possession card.

The tank is "the life's work of the accused"

The accused businessman and financial broker himself did not comment on the allegations.

According to Goecke, the tank and other earlier war weapons found were unusable.

In the case of an anti-aircraft gun, for example, there is no ammunition at all.

The production of five shots for trial purposes would cost 216,000 euros according to the report, said Goecke.

His client was targeted in the course of an investigation into resurfaced Nazi art.

The tank was "the life's work of the accused," said the defender.

The "panther" is a museum piece and not a weapon of war.

That is why the man only had it reconstructed with original parts and not demilitarized.

He bought it as scrap in the UK in 1977.

The Bundeswehr later helped him overhaul the engine and billed him 28,317 euros.

"The regulatory authorities and all residents had known about the" Panther "and other museum pieces of historical military technology in my client's basement for years," said the defense attorney.

His client had an “impeccable lifestyle” and was “in no way criminally charged in his long life”.

Violations of the War Weapons Control Act are punishable by a minimum of one year and a maximum of five years in prison.

The court, public prosecutor and defense are already talking about an understanding.

Efforts to find a deal with the aim of a suspended sentence had already existed from 2018.

His lawyer said he was running out of time.

According to the discussion, the sale of the tank to a museum in the USA and a probation of one million euros from the proceeds were under discussion.

"He's interested in military equipment"

Unlike the prosecutors, the 7th major criminal chamber assumes, on the basis of several reports, that only the anti-aircraft gun is still a weapon of war.

"The pipe seems to be in a much better condition," said the presiding judge Stephan Worpenberg.

The tank, the torpedo and the mortar, on the other hand, are no longer suitable as military equipment.

The process was also followed by an expert from the Association for Weapons Technology and History in Düsseldorf. When asked why the North German was hoarding the weapons, said 80-year-old Jürgen Mascow, "he is interested in military equipment". There is no evidence that the man is an old Nazi. “I am an expert for weapons until 1945 and am therefore not a Nazi.” Mascow is a former frigate captain of the Bundeswehr and said: “Everything that has to do with weapons from the Second World War is hyped.” As far as he knows, the “Panther “The only copy in Germany in private ownership.

A neighbor of the defendant also denied suspicion of Nazism. He talked to him often. “I didn't notice anything. That's a decent person. ”The trial is scheduled to continue on June 10th. Then the chamber wants to hear two experts. A verdict could come on July 8th.