King Tiger 213 — La Gleize

La Gleize, BE

**King Tiger 213** is the centrepiece of La Gleize — the sole surviving tank from **Kampfgruppe Peiper's** armoured column, left behind when Peiper abandoned his vehicles and broke out on foot on Christmas Eve 1944. The tank (Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausf. B, also known as the Tiger II or Königstiger) is positioned in the village square adjacent to the **December 44 Museum** and represents the heaviest German tank to see widespread combat service. Armed with the devastating **88mm KwK 43 L/71 gun** and protected by 185mm frontal armour, the King Tiger was the most powerful tank fielded by any nation in 1944 — yet its weight (nearly 70 tonnes) and mechanical unreliability, combined with the chronic fuel shortages that plagued the German Army, made it as much a liability as an asset. Tactical number 213 belonged to the **501st SS Heavy Panzer Battalion**, assigned to Peiper's battlegroup. The tank was photographed extensively by American troops after the battle, and its survival in near-original condition — including intact zimmerit anti-magnetic coating — makes it one of the finest surviving examples of German heavy tank technology from the Second World War.