The Mercedes-Benz Museum
About seven or eight years ago, I visited the BMW museum in
Munich. What people don't realize is that the museum was actually built one
year after the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics. Inspired by the Guggenheim in New
York, the BMW Museum looks like a salad bowl, with endless spirals taking the
visitors where they need to go.
Yet, as impressive as the BMW Museum is, it can't hold a candle,
or even a spark plug if you will, to the Mercedes Benz Museum in Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt.
You just knew the Mercedes Benz execs were peeved at the fact that they had been
sitting on their tushes for so long, while millions of visitors were taking in
the sights at BMW Wonderland in Munich. The heads at MB more than made up for
their blunder. BMW may be known as the Ultimate Driving Machine, but the MB
Museum is the ultimate automobile museum experience.
The guide itself is no more than the size of a book marker,
neatly folded in eight parts, where each one depicts a chronological chapter of
MB's rich history.
The building itself looks like a double helix structure, but
is supposedly designed to match the likeness of a Wankel Engine, the revolutionary
rotary engine designed in the 1920's by the man of the same name. Not coincidentally,
the museum sits near the main gate of the Daimler Factory in Bad Cannstatt,
where MB, and arguably the automobile itself, started.
Outside the museum entrance, there are several Mercedes old-timers
parked for the visitors to see. It seems these change by the hour, for by the
time I leave the museum hours later, a couple more cars are added, among
them a suave looking Mercedes W111 sedan from the 1960's.
Starting at the top, there are the portraits of the early
pioneers of the automobile, Daimler and Benz themselves, along with the two
cylinder engine used to power what can best be described as a four wheeled
bicycle with cushioned seats in the late 19th century. It's hard for us to
imagine that only over a century ago, primitive designs like these were considered
groundbreaking. The brand itself was not founded until the 20th
century, which is when we find the first real automobiles complete with seats,
steering wheel, and radiator. The times change with the invention of the diesel
engine and the compressor. All of a sudden, far less water is needed to cool
the engine, which greatly improves the range of the cars.
The interesting exhibitions, or so I think, are the buses, fire
trucks, and police cars that were and are still used around the world.
There could be a century old bus cruising through the London streets, or a
bright red 1950's firetruck roaring (which is probably relative at 35 mph)
through Buenos Aires. Even more impressive is the second floor, dedicated to
MB's racing history. There is everything,
from the silver arrows to today's prize winning Formula One race cars. I
pass on the chance of using the formula one drive simulator. Can't do it. I
get motion sickness with a VW Beetle in reverse, I don't even want to know what blood
and guts I'll spill out with a Formula One revved up in all gears.
MB is honest with its history, including the notorious years
of the Third Reich. MB was easily co-opted by the Nazis, who wasted no time in
showing off the best cars Germany could produce. Most notably, MB produced
scores of trucks needed for the war effort.
Stuttgart and the MB Museum—absolutely worth the trip.
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