Original Item. Only One Available. The 9 cm Kanone C/73 was a field gun developed after the Franco-Prussian War and used by Germany before and during World War I. This is a very interesting cast-iron model of a Prussian Krupp field gun, which we believe to be of the 9 cm Kanone C/73.

The model measures 5” tall from the wheels, roughly 12 ¼” long, and 6 ½” wide. The cannon does not function, and the breech does not open. It is a very beautiful display model that is in good order without any visible damage.

Ready for display!

After the Franco-Prussian War, the German Army began to study replacements for its existing C/61 steel breech-loaded cannons. Although the C/61 had outclassed its bronze muzzle-loaded French rivals during the war, its Wahrendorff breech was unpopular with gun crews. The new gun, designated the “C/73”, retained the same 88 mm (3.5 in) ammunition as the C/61 and was assigned to the field artillery regiments of the Army. The German and Austro-Hungarian Army during that period rounded up to the nearest centimeter.

In addition to the German Army, C/73s also armed the Ottoman Empire and a number of the Balkan states. The Balkan states either bought them from Germany, built them under license or inherited Ottoman guns after they left the region. Although largely replaced by the German Army before the First World War, a combination of higher than expected losses and insufficient ammunition production led to the C/73 being brought out of reserve and issued as replacements to field artillery regiments. Some C/73s are believed to have been used by Turkey as late as 1922.

Once adequate numbers of new field guns such as the 7.7 cm FK 16 were being produced obsolete types such as the 9 cm Kanone C/73 and captured guns such as the 76 mm divisional gun M1902 and Canon de 75 modèle 1897 were withdrawn from front-line service and issued to anti-aircraft units. At first, all of the combatants employed field guns on improvised anti-aircraft mounts, which were typically earthen embankments or scaffolds to get the muzzle pointed skyward. Later in the war, specialized anti-aircraft mounts were developed. In 1918, it was estimated that there were still 614 C/73s and C79s deployed in that role.