ABOUT PANZERNET
once upon a time there was a website about tanks
German light tanks and a half-tracked APC advancing through Poland in September 1939, source: Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1976-071-36, Wikimedia, Creative Commons, modified
Disclaimer
This website does not support Nazism, racism, any movements, organisations or political parties, nor does it glorify war and killing. Any National Socialist symbols appearing here are solely part of historical photographs.
I cannot rule out that some of the information on this site — technical details, vehicle production numbers and so on — may not be one hundred percent accurate. I have tried to minimise inaccuracies by cross-referencing data from multiple different sources, but this was not always possible. Thank you for your understanding. Although the site describes more than three hundred different fighting vehicles, I would not presume to claim that it represents a complete survey of everything that ever drove across a battlefield bearing the Balkenkreuz.
Site History
Panzernet went live in March 2002, at that point still at the address panzernet.webzdarma.cz. In June 2004 the site moved to its new home at www.panzernet.net. If you would like to see what it looked like back then, a small glimpse of the May 2007 design can be found HERE and HERE. In 2007 a Soviet section of the site was launched under the name Tankist. A year later Panzernet received a visual redesign, adopting a grey colour scheme with a scrolling multi-level menu (you can see the 2025 version of the site HERE and HERE).
What worked well in 2008, however, inevitably became outdated over the following eighteen years. The site was not responsive, and the menu structure was beginning to hit its limits. Articles about various less prominent vehicles had been grouped together in "Others" sections — for example, Other Tank Destroyers or Other Self-Propelled Guns. As the number of such articles grew, these sections were becoming too large and unwieldy. The obvious solution was simply to dissolve these groupings and give each article its own independent page. The resulting number of pages, however, would no longer fit into the existing menu. It became clear that the time had come for another major redesign. In 2026 Panzernet therefore received its third incarnation: new graphics, a new menu, and — at long last — a version optimised for mobile devices.
The most recent redesign was a fairly substantial undertaking, so we decided for the time being not to migrate the photo gallery. If we manage to do so, we will add it gradually and relaunch it.
A full English version of the website was launched in May 2026. The language "switcher" is located in the top right corner of the screen.
Panzer IV tanks from the 12th Panzer Division "Hitlerjugend", source: Bundesarchiv_Bild_101I-297-1740-19A, Wikimedia, Creative Commons, modified
Site Structure
The Panzernet site is divided by content into several main sections. The INTRODUCTION section contains a news overview, contact details for the editorial team, and information on copyright, sources and the protection of your privacy.
In the TANKS section you will find information on the individual tank types used by the German army during the Second World War. Alongside mass-produced models, various prototypes and unrealised projects are also described. The section's introduction summarises the development of German tanks from the end of the First World War, through the interwar period, and into the Second World War itself.
The TANK DESTROYERS section offers information on German self-propelled anti-tank weapons. Following an introduction that attempts to explain the concept of the tank destroyer as a distinct category of weapon, individual pages are devoted to specific types — whether series-produced vehicles, unfinished projects, prototypes, or conversions of captured vehicles.
The SELF-PROPELLED GUNS section again includes the usual introduction and pages on individual types. It also features a page dedicated to the interesting Grille/Heuschrecke development programme.
StuG III assault guns, here specifically in the Ausf. G variant, source: Flickr.com with the permission of the publishing user, modified
The HALF-TRACKS chapter covers the armoured half-tracked vehicles that fulfilled a wide variety of roles in the German army — from infantry APCs and ammunition carriers to carriers of various artillery weapons. A brief introduction is followed again by individual pages, each dedicated to a specific type and its sub-variants.
The ARMOURED CARS section introduces visitors to the main mass-produced types of armoured car that served in the German army during the Second World War. An introduction explaining the general purpose and history of this category of armoured vehicle is naturally included here as well.
The FLAKPANZERS section presents an interesting category of armoured vehicle — the so-called anti-aircraft tanks. The use of that term here is not entirely precise, since the section also covers air defence vehicles built not on tracked but on wheeled chassis. As usual, both series-produced types and unrealised projects are covered.
The most recently added section of the site is FLAMMPANZERS. Here you will find information on series-produced flamethrower tanks, improvised conversions, and a general introduction to the subject.
The SPECIAL VEHICLES section describes various purpose-built machines. In general, the vehicles in this section can be divided into sub-categories: mine-clearing and demolition vehicles, amphibious vehicles, and ammunition and infantry carriers.
A separate section in the main menu is dedicated to vehicles that were developed — or were intended to be developed — as part of the ENTWICKLUNGSREIHE programme, whose goal was to replace existing types of fighting vehicle with a new generation of armoured vehicles that would be simpler and cheaper to manufacture thanks to greater standardisation.
Wespe light self-propelled howitzers, source: Flickr.com with the permission of the publishing user, modified
The TANK ACES section offers brief biographical sketches of several notable figures from the German armoured forces — not limited to tank crew members alone.
The TANK BATTLES chapter is devoted to descriptions of several important battles and campaigns on both the Eastern and Western Fronts. None of them can be called a purely tank engagement, but tanks — together with other armoured vehicles — played an undeniably crucial role in all of them.
Purely for entertainment, the site also includes an APRIL FOOLS' SECTION, where you can allow yourself to be mildly — and we hope pleasantly — misled.
The section called DOCUMENTS offers a look at various German and Allied paper documents, such as tank crew manuals, informational booklets for infantry on how to cooperate correctly with armoured vehicles in the field, or conversely how to destroy them as effectively as possible.
In the last section, which we have simply called "MISCELLANEOUS", you will find articles covering supplementary information, curiosities and details that round out the overall content of the site. Here you can learn about tank guns, sights and ammunition, camouflage colours and patterns, tanker uniforms and decorations, or the training that German tank crews went through.
About the Author
yours truly inside a Hetzer tank destroyer, August 2020
I hope you enjoy Panzernet.
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Reproducing text from the Panzernet website without the written consent of the operator is prohibited.
