I believe this was designed and employed as an anti-aircraft artillery piece. Rommel found it was an effective anti-tank gun in Africa too. Ended up being used in many different applications.

A fearsome and remarkable weapon, well reviewed below by a couple of others.

Anyone that has read up on the Afrika Corps and the Desert War knows what a fearsome weapon the 88's were.

To repeat the excellent comments of Sundiszno, PzKpfw_VI_E, and tboneya is redundant. I must add that this was the most remarkable gun in the war.

A superb weapon by any standards, and a fearsome tank killer. I can't resist bringing in an Italian connection here - the Italians used a very similar weaapon, the 90/53 gun, often cofused in Allied reporting with the German 88. External characteristics were quite similar, although the Italians mounted them on truck and SP chassis for greater mobility. Ballistic characteristics were also similar, although I believe that the 90/53 may have been marginally better. I once spoke with an Italian officer who had been with a 90/53 SP unit in Sicily who told me that if you could aim the piece at a tank and fire, it was a sure kill - his unit did not last very long once the Americans spotted the guns and attacked with tactical air. I also read somewhere that the Brits had a weapon (correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it was a 3.7 AA gun) that they could have used similarly, but doctrine forbade them shooting at anything other than aircraft with it. I guess if that were so, there also would not have been appropriate ammo either.

As Otto Carius writes in his autobiography, the tankers on the East in 1941 owe their lifes to the 88 Flaks. Men that they previously looked down upon suddenly became their equals. In the desperate times of 1941, even though the weapon's effectiveness in an AT role was first noticed in France, in both Africa and Russia, before the Pzkpfw. IV (Ausf. F2, G and Hs), V, and VI entered surface, this weapons was a godsent for the Germans, and a hellest weapon for our boys. It was so successful that it found itself on the Nashorn/Panzerjager/Konigstiger, in the 88mm L71/Pak 43 model, and on the Pzkpfw. VI Ausf E 'Tiger', in the L56 model. I doubt any nation feilded two formidable Flak weapons like the 88mm series (most notable the Flak 37 and 41), and the 128mm Flak 41. Not only did this weapon cause a hellish situation for the ground forces, it cause just as hellish a situation for the flyboys in the air over Germany. A very feared weapon, with good reason. Being able to penetrate 150mm of armour at over 2000m was quite a scary situation for the Allies in Africa and the Soviet steppe. Within 2 miles, no one was safe.