In early 1937 he was in a position to lay a set of drawings before Hitler, who approved, and consented to the allocation of 10 million Marks for the project. After Hitler had departed, Gustav Krupp decided to take a gamble, and set his design team to work on the 80-cm model. Krupp ( no doubt fully aware of the fate that had already befallen Hugo Junker) was keen to assure Hitler that, although the building of such a monster cannon was a difficult proposition, it could in fact be built. The proprietor, Gustav Krupp von Bohlen (1870-1950) was therefore quickly able to provide the Führer with a comprehensive answer based on the earlier calculations. Here the matter might have rested, except that in March 1936 Hitler paid a visit to the Krupp factory, and raised the same question. This the factory provided, partly as a propaganda stunt and partly as a design exercise. Krupp AG, a leading German steelworks and armaments manufacturer, were approached with a request to provide ballistic data for hypothetical guns of 70-cm, 80-cm, and 100-cm calibres. 80 cm Gustav Railway Gun Country of OriginĬontributor: Alan Chanter ww2dbaseThe gigantic 80-cm kanone known as 'Gustav' owed its origin to a 1935 Wehrmacht study into what would be needed to penetrate the thickness of concrete, being boasted of in French newspapers, in the newly completed Maginot Line.

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