Zimmerit was an anti-magnetic mine coating produced for German armored fighting vehicles during World War II. It was created by the German company Chemische Werke Zimmer AG.
The coating worked by providing a non-conducting, irregular surface that would reduce the area of contact between a mine and the tank's hull, as well as putting more distance between the hull and the mine. This would cause a magnetic mine to fall off due to its own weight and the vibration of the vehicle. It should be noted that zimmerit possessed no anti-magnetic properties of its own, rather it defeated the mines in the methods previously mentioned.
Zimmerit was applied to all tanks and closed-top self-propelled guns, but rarely to anything else. The rough appearance of the coating gave a distinct appearance to the vehicles it coated.
Application of Zimmerit was done at the factory, but it appears that many vehicles received field applications before factory-applied zimmerit was actually available. This explains some of the many variations seen in application designs, from the regular ridge-shaped pattern, to a more uncommon waffle-shaped pattern.
Zimmerit was mainly of use on attacking vehicles, and was phased out of use in mid-1944 when Germany moved into a more defensive role. By the end of the war, greatly improved anti-tank weapons had rendered it obsolete.
External links