Today, I visited the Landeszeughaus, the largest historical armoury in the world! (Of Baroque weapons, at least.) It is located right in the old town area of Graz, near the central square (Hauptplatz). I went with one my friends from the orientation sessions. We first visited the exhibits on the ground floor, which explained the origins of the armoury and the types of weapons that it housed. Then we went upstairs (four more floors!) to see the collection. The building dates back to 1642, in the midst of intense conflict with the Ottoman Empire. Thousands of weapons manufactured in Nuremburg were transported to Graz, a highly dangerous journey that took 2-3 weeks. Once they arrived, they were stored in the four floors of the armoury. Some of the weapons date back as early as the late 15th century, and continue into the 18th.
It was amazing to see just how much metal these soldiers would have to equip themselves with. Besides their body armour, they also may have used two-handed broadswords almost 2 metres long! The horses had the real challenge – in addition to carrying their riders, they often had to wear their own armour weighing up to 52kg. Crazy.
The body armour often had intricate details. Lots of biblical allusions. Jesus could be found engraved on the left side of the breast plates, and a whole row of the pistol handles were carved with a depiction of Adam and Eve and the serpent.
I wasn’t allowed to take any pictures, but you can check out this video showing the pieces:
http://www.tripfilms.com/Travel_Video-v76083-Graz-Graz_The_Armory-Video.html
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