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MERCEDES-BENZ MUSEUM, STUTTGART: ‘TRADITION MEETS INNOVATION’
story by David M. Brown
photos by Mercedes-Benz Museum, Stuttgart and Stuttgart-Marketing GmbH
posted on 02/2022
posted in: Great Garages
On June 28, 1926, Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG), manufacturer of the 35-horse Mercedes in 1901, and Benz & Cie, whose founder shares credit for inventing the first internal combustion-powered automobile 15 years before, merged to establish one of the great automotive brands. Mercedes-Benz Pkw and Daimler Truck are now independent companies based in Stuttgart, Germany.
Other great names followed, of industry pioneers, legendary cars, great drivers, famous races and tracks: Daimler, Maybach, Jellinek, Benz, Simplex, Kompressor, Gullwing, Silver Arrows and The SLR McLaren; Stirling Moss, Mika Hakkinen, Juan Manuel Fangio, Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton; 1894 Paris–Rouen, the Argentine Grand Prix, Indianapolis, Nürburgring and Mille Miglia.
Celebrating these people, places and automotive firsts, the Mercedes-Benz Museum, on the outskirts of Stuttgart, Germany, in Bad Cannstatt, showcases 160 cars, from the first to today’s industry standard-setters.
Benz Patent-Motorwagen
The complete company collection of approximately 1,200 vehicles embraces 135-plus years of history and innovation and is not open to the public, but those cars are seen at exhibitions, motor shows and classic car events and rallies, explains Benedikt Weiler, the museum curator.
On January 5, the 11-millionth visitor toured the museum; people from more than 190 countries have enjoyed the cars, the automobilia and as many as 175 public and customer events annually including exhibitions, presentations, concerts and cinema shows, says Weiler, noting that visitors walk as many as three and a half miles during their visits.
“The Museum celebrates the automobile; it relates its history and tells its stories, bringing both alive by placing them in the context of technology, day-to-day life, social history and popular culture,” he says. The vehicles include some of the oldest automobiles, such as The Daimler Motorized Carriage and a replica of the Benz Patent Motor car, both from 1886, famous racing cars and futuristic research vehicles, exemplified by almost 90 years of the great Silver Arrows. These cars are the centerpiece of the permanent exhibition comprising more than nine levels of open space.
Mercedes-Simplex 40 PS
The new museum replaced the former one from 1986. Daimler and Benz-Company has long held historical collections maintained by the original companies, Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG), founded in November 1890 by Gottlieb Daimler, and Benz & Cie, founded 1883. Assembling a historical vehicle collection began in 1921 by DMG and Benz & Cie.
As distinctive as the cars, the facility was designed by Dutch architect Ben van Berkel of UNStudio van Berkel & Bos, Amsterdam, and built from 2003 to 2006. The walls and ceilings are a double helix reminiscent of the double helix of human DNA, where the genetic information is stored.
“In the early 2000s, this construction process was at the very limit of technical feasibility,” Weiler explains. The structure of the building has unique individual components such as 1,800 triangular panes of glass, no two identical.
Mercedes-Benz 500 K Spezial-Roadster
“This also makes the Mercedes-Benz Museum an architectural symbol of the visionary strength of those who invented and developed the automobile,” he explains. “Their energy has remained in the genes of the Mercedes-Benz brand ever since.”
Seven Legends
Weiler discussed seven Mercedes-Benz legends in the museum for Highline Autos readers.
M4 - 01/19
•Benz Patent Motor Car, 1886 (replica)–– This 58-ci one-cylinder four-stroke car was the world’s first gasoline-powered automobile: a “vehicle without horses.” Unlike Daimler’s earlier motorized carriage, the motor car formed an autonomous entity of chassis and engine. Carl Benz designed it as a three-wheeler because he was not satisfied with the single-pivot steering systems available for four-wheeled vehicles at the time.
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