The nickname "Big Bertha" appeared early in the war, as the first pair of M-Gerät guns were rushed to Belgium and destroyed the Fort de Loncin.
German soldiers christened the guns "Dicke Berta" in reference to Bertha Krupp, head of the Krupp family.
After the Battle of Liège, the name "Big Bertha" spread to German newspapers and then to Allied servicemen as slang for all heavy German artillery, but especially the 42 cm guns.
The name has since entered public conscience, for example being applied to a line of Callaway golf clubs, and the name for the satirical French magazine La Grosse Bertha.
Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank, prominently referenced Big Bertha in a 2012 interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung as a metaphor for his bond-buying policy.

Two 42 cm M-Gerät guns were surrendered to the US Army at Spincourt in November 1918.
One was taken to the United States and evaluated and then put on display at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, while the other was left unassembled in its transport configuration.
Both were scrapped in 1943 and the early 1950s.
World War I veteran Emil Cherubin built a replica of an M-Gerät, which toured Germany and appeared on a few postage stamps.
The Paris Gun has historically been confused with the M-Gerät since World War I.
The nickname "Big Bertha" appeared early in the war, as the first pair of M-Gerät guns were rushed to Belgium and destroyed the Fort de Loncin. German soldiers christened the guns "Dicke Berta" in reference to Bertha Krupp, head of the Krupp family. After the Battle of Liège, the name "Big Bertha" spread to German newspapers and then to Allied servicemen as slang for all heavy German artillery, but especially the 42 cm guns. The name has since entered public conscience, for example being applied to a line of Callaway golf clubs, and the name for the satirical French magazine La Grosse Bertha. Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank, prominently referenced Big Bertha in a 2012 interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung as a metaphor for his bond-buying policy.
Two 42 cm M-Gerät guns were surrendered to the US Army at Spincourt in November 1918. One was taken to the United States and evaluated and then put on display at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, while the other was left unassembled in its transport configuration. Both were scrapped in 1943 and the early 1950s. World War I veteran Emil Cherubin built a replica of an M-Gerät, which toured Germany and appeared on a few postage stamps. The Paris Gun has historically been confused with the M-Gerät since World War I.
Big Bertha (howitzer)