The inventors of the automobile have recreated the automotive museum: on 19 May 2006 the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart was opened. In just two-and-a-half years' construction time, from September 2003 to April 2006, a remarkable structure emerged that is an architectonic highlight of urban development in the entire Stuttgart region.
It is the only museum in the world that can present the 135-year history of the automobile industry complete from the very first day.
The exhibition concept
The exhibition concept of the Mercedes-Benz Museum is as unrivalled as the tradition of the company: on nine levels covering 16,500 square metres, 160 vehicles, more than 1500 exhibits in all, presented on two connected tour routes, can be viewed. The proximity to the Mercedes-Benz parent plant in Stuttgart-Untertürkheim breaches the gap between tradition and modernity: the Museum shows that automotive history is always also directed towards the future. The basis of this is the enduring innovative power of the Mercedes-Benz brand.
Highlights of the event programme 2024¹
The interactive special exhibition DER MOBILE MENSCH (THE MOBILE HUMAN) can be experienced on Level 0 of the Museum until 17 November 2024.
Under the title “Now on View”, the Mercedes-Benz Art Collection will provide insights into its holdings with changing exhibitions from March 2024.
A highlight for classic car fans in the region and beyond is the all-brand classic car meet “Classics & Coffee”. It will take place every Sunday from 14 April to the beginning of October 2024. Special topics during the season range from “Super Sports Cars”, “SL”, “Baby Benz” and “AMG” to “Off-road Vehicles, Commercial Vehicles & Campers”.
On International Museum Day on 19 May 2024, which is also the 18th anniversary of the Mercedes-Benz Museum, there is free admission to the permanent exhibition.
The new “Pit Stop” hands-on programme invites you to take a look behind the scenes of Formula One racing strategy. It can be experienced from summer 2024 in Legend Room 7: Silver Arrows – Races and Records.
The Children’s and Family Day on 30 June 2024 will feature a colourful programme in the outdoor area and inside the Museum with partners from the region.
The successful “Urban Culture at the Mercedes-Benz Museum” programme will enter the next round from 18 July to 18 August 2024. The Museum provides an opportunity for artists from the region to perform on the open-air stage.
From 23 August to 8 September 2024, the open-air cinema will once again offer exhilarating film evenings under the stars. Advance ticket sales start on 23 May 2024.
The big lantern parade starts from the Museum at the beginning of November 2024.
¹Subject to change without notice
The architecture
The Museum presents not only the exciting history of the Mercedes-Benz brand, but gives revealing glimpses of the future too. The Museum architecture, the work of UNStudio van Berkel and Bos, Amsterdam, serves this task. Its impressive modernity appears to mark it as a design from the future – yet at the same time preserves tradition. The architecture illustrates the heritage of the brand. The building interior is modelled on the double-helix DNA spiral containing the human genetic code, and is therefore committed to the Mercedes-Benz brand's concept of originality: creating entirely new things for the mobility of man, again and again – from the invention of the automobile to the pioneering vision of accident-free driving.
Unique museum concept
The exhibition concept itself is also an original design developed and implemented by HG Merz, Stuttgart and Berlin. On their two-hour walk through the Museum the visitors enjoy a unique journey through time covering 135 years of automotive history. They are transported by lift to the top floor, from which two tours lead back to the starting point in long curves through the extensive collection.
Through nine levels the two paths form a double helix as symbol of the genetic endowment of the brand. Seven "Legend" rooms are arranged on the first circuit. They tell the story of the brand in chronological sequence. For the second tour a host of vehicles is arranged in five separate "Collection" rooms in which, across decades, the brand portfolio and the collection are presented in all their diversity. A further special feature: for the first time the Museum now also documents Mercedes-Benz's more than 125-year commercial vehicle history.
The visitor can switch between tours at any time. Both tours end at the "Silver Arrows – Races and Records" banked corner, where the pure, unadulterated legendry of the brand becomes tangible. The exhibition is complemented by "The Fascination of Technology" section, which enables visitors to see what goes on every day at Mercedes-Benz and at the same time presents topics touching upon the future of the automobile.
The detailed picture of the Mercedes-Benz brand comprises more than 1500 exhibits, including 160 vehicles – 80 passenger cars, 40 commercial vehicles, and 40 racing cars and record-breaking vehicles.
The Mercedes-Benz Museum is the best and only place in the world where, from the beginnings down to the present, one can experience the history of the automobile and the legend embodied by the Mercedes-Benz brand in a completely new and fascinating way.
