Stuttgart, the south German city attracts thousands of tourists each year for many reasons. But perhaps its allure for car lovers worldwide is incomparable. Stuttgart has world-wide reputation as the “the cradle of the automobile” and giving incredible boost to this is the Mercedes Benz Museum, which is two-year old.
This UN Studio designed architectural time capsule, is eight-storey’s high and looks extremely elegant and beautiful, thus attracting not only car lovers but also those passionate about architecture. Mercedes-Benz is the world’s oldest car industry company.
The museum is as impressive as their cars and overwhelms visitors right from the first glance. It takes eight Euros to go on an audio tour of the museum. The first thing one sees on beginning the tour of the museum is a stuffed horse that welcomes you and evokes an image of the era of travel that existed before automobiles were invented.
The tour begins with the futuristic elevators taking visitors up and continues with a descent down helix-shaped ramps. This museum pays homage to the history of the auto car, right from its first day to the futuristic schemes of the current day. Every transformation of the Benz has been chronicled.
It showcases about 160 of the greatest hits of carmakers. You will see the antique Jalopies, the Silver Arrows of the 1930s that broke records, Kaiser Wilhelm’s royal 770 Grand Mercedes, as well as several other wonders of the Mercedes engineering; a cavalcade of race cars. All the vehicles are very well preserved and visitors get to see them close enough to breathe the enthusiasm of those days.
One of the oldest models is a motorbike from 1885 as well as a Benz tricycle, the automobile’s ancestor.
The story of this magnificent car goes back to 1902 when the world’s first Mercedes was created. It happened when Emil Jellinek, a wealthy European entrepreneur who was on the board of Daimler-Motoren-Gesselschaft (DMG), and Gottlieb Daimler got together to produce and market a modern engine. It was decided that the new engine would be named after Emil’s young daughter, Mercedes Jellinek, and be given the name of Daimler-Mercedes.
Gottlieb Daimler is well-known for laying the foundation to a motorized society in 1883, with the first high-speed gasoline engine, which is called “the grandfather’s clock” because of the appearance. This is one of the major attractions of the museum along with the three-wheeler motorized ‘car’ by Karl Benz, which has the distinction of being the first of its kind in the world.
The museum has a section called, “Times of change,” representing the years between 1914 and 1945. Why is this period significant? Because it stands between two world wars! This period represents the birth of the world’s first “supercharged” engines; the merger of Benz & Cie and DMG into “Mercedes-Benz” in 1926 and it was in 1936 that the world’s first diesel engine was introduced.
For car lovers, the only disappointing aspect of the museum could very well be the almost absent Hitler’s rule. This 12 year-period is completely minimized. Could it be to avoid remembering the dark period?
The period 1945 – 1960 is called the “miracle of form and diversity,” and reveals the beautiful transformation of these magical cars. The beautiful reminders of this period are the 1952 Mercedes Benz, the 300 S convertible, the 300 SLR racing coupe and the SL coupe the doors of which open upwards. The year 1962 marks the birth of the sexy Roadster, giving an elegant close to that era.
The museum has two rooms named, “celebrities” and “heroes.” This is where visitors spend most of their time as they are the most interesting and show several cars used by the famous people. Here, we get to see the models as well as the actual cars used by the Sultan of Morocco, Hassan, Emperor Hirohito of Japan, Lady Diana, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Grace Kelly, Ringo Starr, 1974 World Cup German soccer team touring coach and the bulletproof “popemobile” for John Paul II.
There have been many historians that have expressed feeling a little unsatisfied, in spite of the whole experience being fascinating. This is because the events for the technological evolution of the car along with the dates from different eras are highlighted, and the periods they are not comfortable with have been given a step-fatherly treatment.
In spite of minor inadequacies noted by some historians; this museum devoted to the culture of cars is an absolute automobile heaven that mesmerizes each and every person that enters this place. The fun is not limited to car buffs, as it provides a unique experience of science and culture to all.
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