Tiergarten Tiger Tank - Last Stand at the Brandenburg Gate

TL;DR

Tiger 323, a Muncheberg Division tank, made its last stand covering the Brandenburg Gate before being destroyed by its own crew on May 1, 1945.

Key Points

• 1.Tiger 323 belonged to the ad hoc Muncheberg Panzer Division. Formed February 25, 1945 from training units at Kummersdorf, the division initially had four King Tigers, one Tiger 1, and one Jagdtiger, later expanded with Panthers and Panzer IVs before being withdrawn to Berlin on April 17.
• 2.Tiger 323 was positioned in the Tiergarten to defend the Brandenburg Gate sector. Acting as a stationary blockhouse, it covered the top end of the Tiergarten in front of the Brandenburg Gate, likely immobile due to low fuel, tasked with engaging any approaching Soviet tanks.
• 3.The tank's post-battle position was likely moved by Soviet engineers. Photographic analysis shows the gun facing rearward and the tank sitting among linden trees that would have impeded its barrel traverse, suggesting it was dragged off the road to clear military traffic after the battle.
• 4.Tiger 323 was destroyed by its own crew on May 1, 1945, with only one of five crew members surviving. It became a popular photo spot for Red Army soldiers before being stripped and scrapped by the Soviets; it was gone by the time US and British forces arrived in July 1945.
• 5.The true last Tiger in Berlin was a Tiger 2, turret number 314 of the 503rd SS Heavy Panzer Battalion. It was credited with destroying 39 Soviet tanks near Potsdamer Railway Station before being knocked out hours after Tiger 323 when it ran over a German mine while attempting to move.