The Gotica Toscana Museum (MuGot), in Ponzalla in the municipality of Scarperia and San Piero (FI), is preparing for an important new development for 2025: the opening of a New exhibition hall devoted entirely to German armory World War II. A significant expansion that further enriches the museum itinerary, offering a documented and comprehensive perspective on the Italian-German front during the Italian Campaign. The work was conceived and carried out by the magnificent volunteers of Gotica Toscana aps, who are tireless in conducting multiple concrete initiatives to set up and reconstruct historical contexts related to World War II in the Apennine sector of the Gothic Line and the Giogo Pass.
The new section will be open to the public from the April 21 and will host original weapons, equipment, and accessories used by the German troops, particularly those who operated along the Gothic Line. Special attention is paid to the 4. Fallschirmjäger-Division, protagonist of the fierce fighting in September 1944 on Giogo Pass, where he strenuously resisted the Allied advance.
The weapons on display: Wehrmacht and paratroopers
On display inside the room will be, among others, these characteristic German infantry weapons that were used for defensive battles on the Gothic near the Giogo Pass:
- the Karabiner 98k, bolt-action rifle standard issue to the German infantry,
- the famous MP 40, compact submachine gun used by non-commissioned officers and paratroopers,
- the rare and technologically advanced FG 42, arma semiautomatica progettata per le truppe d’élite della Luftwaffe,
- the deadly MG 42, belt-fed machine gun with an impressive rate of fire,
- the pistols Luger P08 and Walther P38,
- the grenade launchers Panzerfaust and the iconic Stielhandgranate, trench club grenades,
- and finally, the infantry mortars, including the 8 cm Granatwerfer 34, an essential weapon for short-range support fire, employed intensively in the Apennine foothills.
