Asking for a friend:

Who can recommend arms and armour museums in Berlin, Munich and Vienna?

Thanks

I'm going to state the obvious ones that you're probably already aware of, but since you asked:

Vienna- Kunsthistorisches Museum of Wien, which houses many of the most famous suits of armor that you've seen images of a million times, particularly the "Siggy" suit in our Anatomy of Armor article. Despite that, you HAVE to go, as the collection is incredible, and houses far more than what you've seen in books and in online photos. It also has fantastic medieval/renaissance art directly related to arms and armor.

Munich- Bavarian National Museum, which houses the famous "Munich" longsword. The actual arms and armor collection is not that big, but it houses some incredible pieces, plus the period paintings and sculptures are a must for any arms and armor enthusiast.

Berlin-German History Musuem. Another must-see. A lot of amazing pieces here. I'd write more, but I'm just repeating myself at this point. :)

In Wien the two go-to places are the Hofjagd- und Rüstkammer which is located in the neue Burg section of the Hofburg
https://www.khm.at/en/visit/collections/imperial-armoury/ and the Heeresgeschichtlichen Museum (Army Museum) near the Schweizergarten https://www.hgm.at/en.html

The Imperial armoury almost worth the price of a trip to Wien on it's own, the collection is outstanding with a number of famous suits and weapons. I spent hours there and still missed some things. I would recomend being well hydrated before visiting, some of the rooms are both warm and dry.

The HGM tells the history of the Austrian army from 1618 to this day so unless one is interested in 17th century arms & armour it has little to offer beyond some 16th Century equipment.

Knowing German makes a real difference, particularly in the HGM unless things have improved since my last visit. The Imperial Armoury is much easier to enjoy even if you don't speak German but IIRC the information available in English was never quite as extensive or detailed as that in German.

If they're going to be close to Munich then I'd recommend a relatively short detour to Nuremberg:-

https://www.facebook.com/matt.bunker.792/media_set?set=a.10155138395105706.1073741977.695935705&type=3&pnref=story

Tforum is always a good place to preview museums: http://www.tforum.info/forum/index.php?app=gallery&category=9 I think most of the museums mentioned are here.

The Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nürnberg is well worth a visit but I would recomend going by train if possible as the 170km drive (one way) between München and Nürnberg may not seem like that long a trip traffic but traffic jams can easily add hours to the travel time if you arrive at the work time.

The Wien Museum has some very interesting armour as well, such as a mid 15th century horse bard that is only missing a couple of plates out of the crinet but is otherwise complete; I know of no other like it. They also have a Kastenbrust era breast with some interesting other bits associated it, and have most of a 'gothic' harness that is of mid level quality, and shows you how much better than everyone else the Helmschmids were.

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Thanks, everybody. I've passed along the information!

Funny you should mention that - back from Vienna this morning :)
Make sure to go to the Imperial Armoury - Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien. I'll post my pictures here soon!
Cheers,
J

Ps: and what an fantastic city! Right there at the very top with Paris and Venise (where you turn a corner and find some random jaw dropping building that could be enough to be the pride of any lesser place)

PS2; and because there is more to life than arms and armor, I'll go to the leopold museum for Klimt and Egon Schiele, and to the Belvedere palace where there is a wonderful medieval collection of art (among other things, starting with the building himself)