As an overview, this is supposed to be a world-class museum summarizing the history of the German…read moremilitary. Perhaps analogize this museum to a Smithsonian in the U.S. The musuem's website boasts: "The Bundeswehr Museum of Military History in Dresden is one of the three major historical museums in Germany, as well as one of the most innovative military museums in the world." But from a museum management and facilities perspective, this museum is a national embarrassment to Germany. Why? Because the museum has completely inadequate lighting. During our visit, the lights were completely turned off in the 1300-1914 exhibit for the first two hours. We literally had to use our phone as flashlights to read anything. The overall the lighting is bad in other areas where the lights were on. The museum website should openly tell people the museum lacks lighting and visitors should bring their own flashlights. If the lighting had been working, I would have given this museum 5 stars. But I rate museums based on actual experience, not aspirational wants.
Getting past the lighting fiasco, the museum's chronological coverage of German military history is logical and well-developed. Seeing WWI and WWII through another historical lens is always interesting (as an aside, I strongly recommend the Yasukuni Shrine and its war museum Yūshūkan in Tokyo for an interesting perspective on WWII).
Concerning some of the more detailed exhibits, we consistently encountered exhibits with no design and forethought. For example, in one area with vertical pullouts concerning varying views on Napoleon, the pullouts would not extend far enough out to see the whole exhibit. In other areas, videos did not play. I was shocked by the non-functional displays and backwardness in this museum.
On the positive side, some of the displays were truly unique including the display on animals used by militaries.
Consider skipping the displays on floor 3. Floor 3 has the strangest, tightly spaced, ridiculous vertical displays I've even seen anywhere.
Overall cleanliness: Excellent
Bathroom cleanliness: Excellent
Snack bar: closed when we visited
Viewing station of downtown Dresden: impaired visibility due to the building design but worth a quick peek.
Time budget: minimum 3-4 hours