There are not many world legendary car brands, each of them is worthy of a separate story and attention. Car enthusiasts visiting Germany will not fail to visit the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart. The exposition tracks the brand’s 120-year history, presenting 1, 500 cars in the historical sequence of production.
Brand history
The Mercedes-Benz brand was born from the merger of two companies manufacturing cars in Germany. One of them - Benz & Cie - was founded in 1883 by Karl Benz, and the second was named Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft and was opened in 1890 by Gottlieb Daimler. Until 1926, these were competing organizations that presented the world with many unique cars and discoveries in this area. The single concern was established in 1926.
The unification was forced by the economic situation in Germany that developed after the First World War. Through the efforts of two staggering giants, development began, which became a classic in the automotive industry. The design bureau of the created concern was headed by Ferdinand Porsche. He went into his own business in 1928.
During the Second World War, the company reoriented to the production of trucks and cars for the needs of the army. Production made deliveries until September 1944, when an air raid completely destroyed the plants. In 1945, the board of directors legally recognized that the Daimler-Benz concern had lost all physical assets.
The restoration of potential was slow, which did not harm the ambitious plans. In 1951, the company demonstrated at a Paris exhibition a luxury hand-built car, which took into account all the technical innovations. The car was a huge success, one of them was acquired by German Chancellor Friedrich Adenauer, and subsequently the model was called Adenauer. From that moment, the concern began to restore leadership positions in the automotive market.
First museum
They decided to comprehend their own history and demonstrate it to the world in the year of celebrating the 50th anniversary of the concern. The first exhibition was opened in 1936 in a separate building on the territory of the plant. The exhibition halls were small, the entire collection consisted of 33 cars. Eighteen were produced by Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft, nine models were produced at different times by Benz & Cie, and six samples represented a product of joint creativity of the combined industries.
The exposition was supplemented by nineteen engines designed for various models of cars, aircraft and ships. Of interest were three engines for railway locomotives, exact replicas of a unique engine for the first Daimler Motorkutsche brand carriage and Neckar motor boat. The first Mercedes-Benz Museum lasted until 1958.
Expansion
By 1955, the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart had an extensive collection that the halls of the old museum no longer contained. The management of the company turned to architects R. Gutbuir and H. Kammer with a request to develop a project for a new building. Construction began in 1958, and the opening took place on the 75th anniversary of the invention of the first car, in 1961.
A significantly augmented exposition spread over an area of 1200 square meters, escort of tourists was carried out using a technical novelty - an audio guide. The museum attracted many tourists, but the expanding collection required ever larger areas. In 1985, the Mercedes-Benz Museum was closed to visitors. The management of the concern decided to carry out a radical reconstruction and expansion of the exhibition area for the centenary.
The new concept of internal and external design was entrusted to architects K. Lorer, D. Hermann and G. Merz. The building received a modern finish, in tune with the brand mission. The area of exhibition halls was increased and amounted to about 6 thousand square meters. A continuous glass facade filled the interior with sunshine and blurred the line between the industrial landscape of factory sites and museum halls.
New building for the collection
The issue of space limitations has long been the weakest side and required a radical solution. In 2000, the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart, it was decided to place in a completely new building, on the edge of the factory territory. A little later, the idea was continued in the construction of a separate complex of buildings, where several areas of the company's interests will be combined.
The project was approved in 2001, its implementation was entrusted to the famous architect B. Berkel. The first stone in a festive atmosphere was laid in 2003, and three years later it was opened to visitors. When developing the internal space, all the nuances and requirements of museum work were taken into account.
In 2015, the Mercedes-Benz Museum made an unprecedented gift for motorists, arranging the sale of several retro models of its collection. The action was called All Time Stars and divided the offer into three parts - premium class, collectible cars and driver series.
Architecture
The Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart is housed in a futuristic architecture building. It was opened for visiting in 2006. For the construction was occupied only 4800 square meters. meters, and the exhibition area occupy 16.5 thousand square meters. Created from glass and concrete, it seems to be three-story, but once inside, the visitor goes through nine floors, which tells the whole story of the brand. The concept is based on the shape of a trefoil, consisting of three circles equally spaced from each other. As a result of their intersection, an internal triangular atrium is formed, its shape can be interpreted as a hint at the company logo or as the shape of an engine.
Administration and architects approached the creation of the third museum with all seriousness and combined the concept of three times of the trademark existence: relying on the past, creating in the present and creating the future. The inner space is designed according to the principle of a spiral of human DNA that carries in compressed form the entire human genome.
The Mercedes-Benz Museum (Stuttgart) is one of the most visited industrial and automobile museums in the world. Tourists from 160 countries come here every year, the total number of visitors is about 7 million people.
Exposition
The Mercedes-Benz Museum offers visitors two kinds of itinerary for exposure. One of them guides the excursion through the stages of the company's 125-year history. The stands show a retrospective of cars from the very first models to modern automotive masterpieces. The exhibition halls are decorated in the style of those eras to which this or that model belongs. Music, posters, movie characters create the atmosphere of their time, immersing the visitor in it.
The second route has a conceptual focus and reflects the development of the brand by the types of vehicles released. This exposition is located in five halls - trucks, office equipment, travel, cars of famous people and movie characters. Each of the routes is accompanied by an audio guide that provides information in any order in many languages, including Russian.
On the top floor of the museum complex, both routes lead to the hall, where modern equipment is collected, which is currently being implemented around the world. Also presented here are innovative models that may be released in the near future. The museum collection consists of 1, 500 exhibits. At the stands are placed not only cars, but also the first engine designs, layouts. The range of cars produced by the company is wide: buses, trucks, sports and racing cars, production cars of various classes.
Reviews
All visitors liked the Mercedes-Benz Museum (Stuttgart). The reviews say that even a person who is not a fan of automotive equipment is guaranteed an exciting journey into the history of one brand. All visitors note the scale of the exposure, the spectacular presentation of each car model. Complete information helps to get an audio guide in Russian. A special delight for many visitors was caused by the racetrack simulator.
There are no negative reviews about the museum. Some visitors complained that the exhibits should not be touched. Not everyone approached the audio guide, which provides only dry information, many wanted lively communication with the guide, traditional for Russian museums.
