Mercedes Benz Museum
As the inventor of the automobile, DaimlerChrysler has the obligation to provide an adequate forum to tell the story of automobile history and to give the tradition of the brand, Mercedes Benz, a home. The Mercedes Benz Museum Stuttgart, on 16500 sqm, provides an unforgettable brand experience.
The entire tradition of the brand with the star (from passenger cars to utilitarian cars to sports cars) shapes the central elements and so creates a unique communications platform for the brand Mercedes Benz.
The new museum building has been open since May 2006.Getting into the museum is an experience in itself. First you have to get to the factory, which is fairly straightforward. Just take S-Bahn 1 (rapid transit system) to Gottleib-Daimler Stadion, and then follow the signs out of the station. Once you arrive at the station, you will have to wait for a shuttle bus to drive you the remaining short distance to the museum within the factory buildings. This is all part of the secrecy and mystique that Mercedes likes to uphold. One thing you should note is the route you take from the station, as it isn’t sign posted on the way back. Mercedes-Benz is very proud of the fact that they invented the first practical automobiles and upon entering the museum that is what you’ll see. Be sure to grab one of their wireless radios for a description of all of the exhibits. The museum has angled floors that lead you up through the museum and the cars are arrayed in a more or less historical order. The displays are very straightforward and not as descriptive as those are in the Galleria Ferrari. The thinking may be that the cars stand on their own merit or that you should have picked up a radio!
The Building
Sublime architecture for unique automobiles: UNStudio developed its basic design around a simple, geometric figure of three loops that turn endlessly around each other, rather like the three-leafed-clover structure of the nearby road intersection. Instead of radiating outwards, however, the museum routes unwind slowly down a timeline that guides the visitor through nine levels – from the invention of the automobile to present-day reality in the entrance hall below.
An outer skin of aluminum and glass lends the building an air of transparency and weightlessness – despite its 110,000 tons. The polished aluminum panels intertwine like strips of ribbon, while the darker glazed areas, consisting of 1,800 individual panoramic glass panes, mysteriously draw the mind’s eye into the interior.
There is also a display of current models including the cute “Smart Car” which was originally the result of a partnership between Swatch and Daimler-Benz. The 58-mpg car has won numerous awards in Europe and can be purchased in many “mouth watering” colors. If a computer can be called an iMac then this car should be called an iCar. A number of governments are using this car as a basis for car-sharing plans. SwissAir has a program for first-class passengers to use this car at their destination while returning it to the airport upon their departure. The Smart Car is only 2.5 meters long and has excellent visibility combined with a very small turning circle and a semi-automatic transmission. The car has a top speed of 85 mph, accelerates from 0 to 60 in 10.2 seconds. The Smart Car features a state of the art Tridion alloy safety framework, ABS braking and a rear mounted Mercedes manufactured 599cc suprex-turbocharged 3 cylinder in-line petrol engine complete with catalytic converter.
Opening hours: Open 9.00 a.m. to
6.00 p.m. – ticket desk closes at
5.00 p.m. The museum is open from
Tuesday to Sunday and on public
holidays. It is closed on Mondays.
Look ahead to public holidays in
2008/2009. The museum will be closed
on:
December 24, 2008, Christmas Eve
December 25, 2008, Boxing Day
December 31, 2008, New Year’s Eve
January 1, 2009, New Year’s Day
24.12.2009, Christmas Eve
25.12.2009, Boxing Day
31.12.2009, New Year’s Eve
The museum will be opened on Easter
Monday and Whit Monday.
Contact & Reservations:
Hotline +49(0)711-17 30 000
Fax +49(0)711-17 30 400
or via E-mail:
[email protected]
Address:
Mercedes-Benz Museum GmbH
Mercedesstraße 100
70372 Stuttgart
Richard Meier’s architectural design studio
Jom komen!