The T-55 is one of the most popular tanks in the world, and has seen action in the Middle East, Vietnam, Angola, and elsewhere over the last few decades. When you're driving a tank in Germany, it's hard not to think about the history of violence that surrounds you. "Our customers really come from all walks of life." "You're the typical customer," Jörg said. The day I was at the school, there were people of all ages waiting to hop in an iron pig, including a family or two. But the majority of people who show up to drive aren't military types, but rather international tourists or local thrill-seekers. The school has also been approached by the German and Austrian militaries to offer training courses for soldiers. In the years since, Panzer-Fun-Fahrschule has hired more employees, including several former soldiers, to teach the driving lessons. In 2005, the brothers started the driving school on 20 acres of farmland in Beerfelde, and by 2009 they had purchased upwards of a dozen tanks that belonged to a variety of different armies, culled from sources "all over Europe." When I pressed him for details, Jörg told my translator, "You know, Eastern European countries like Slovenia. "I just couldn't stop thinking about tanks," Axel told a German newspaper in 2009.Īfter the local government asked them to bring their tank to a local harvest festival, people started calling them nonstop with requests to drive the "iron pig," as they referred to it. Axel had previously worked as a tank instructor in the East German army for a decade, and he and his brother drove their new toy around a neighbor's farm for kicks. Panzer-Fun-Fahrschule, which roughly translates to "Tank Fun Driving School," was founded in the early aughts after brothers Axel and Jörg Heyse bought and refurbished a Soviet T-55 tank they saw in a scrapyard in the Czech Republic.
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