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Mercedes Benz Museum - This is a breakout Photolog from my visit during my 2023 Roadtrip (Summer of '23 | Road trip across Czech, Austria, Switzerland and Germany.).



Spread over nine levels the museum presents breathtaking vehicles and contemporary history from the very first patented car in the world to the hydrogen vehicle from this millennium.

The museum consists of seven Legend rooms which narrate the chronological history of the brand and five separate Collection rooms, which thematically document the breadth and diversity of the brand portfolio and collection. This amazing museum tour finishes at the banked curve entitled Silver Arrows – Races & Records.

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Pioneers – The Invention of the Automobile.

Any analysis of the most spectacular accomplishments of recent centuries will make frequent mention of a technical development which has changed the world from the ground up – the automobile. Working independently, Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz were the brains behind the first automobiles, which turned their wheels first in 1886. A combination of their brilliant inventions and the input of equally inspired partners such as Wilhelm Maybach helped to get the world on the move.

Driving them forward, so to speak, was a highly explosive mixture of curiosity, a thirst for knowledge, and a sixth sense for technical feasibility. Together, these attributes opened the door to a succession of spectacular developments and allowed the long unfulfilled dream of individual mobility to finally become a reality.

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Mercedes – Birth of the Brand.

Product names and trademarks are much more than just identifiers and symbols. They embody the very essence of a brand and offer a concise way of communicating the image of its products. This is particularly true in the car industry. When Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz first launched their respective companies – Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG) and Benz & Cie. – they used their own family names to vouch for the quality of their products.

While Carl Benz continued to pursue this strategy, a new name came into the equation at DMG courtesy of Emil Jellinek, one of the firm’s best customers. In 1899, he began participating in motor races – in vehicles which he had purchased from DMG – under the pseudonym “Mercedes”, the name of his daughter. It went on to become a product name at the end of 1900 when it was used to designate the radically new 35 hp model which had just appeared. The spectacular racing successes of the 35 hp Mercedes ensured that this memorable name soon became very well known. Around the world, Mercedes became synonymous with successful and prestigious motor cars. And it is still the same story today. Even after 100 years, Mercedes continues to be one of the best-known brand names.

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Times of Change– Diesel and Supercharger.

Automobiles and airplanes are more closely related than it would appear at first. As early as 1888, Gottlieb Daimler had supplied the engine for an airship owned by Leipzig-based bookseller Friedrich Hermann Wölfert. Both Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG) and Benz & Cie. started developing engines specifically for aircraft even before World War I. During the course of the war, it became apparent that the engines did not supply sufficient power at high altitude due to the low air density.

DMG solved this problem by developing the supercharger, which compressed the intake air, thus compensating for power loss. The company of course reasoned that whatever is good for the aircraft must be good for the automobile as well and after World War I, DMG also developed supercharged engines to boost the performance of automobiles. However, DMG and Benz & Cie., which merged to form Daimler-Benz AG in 1926, did not just want to provide vehicle owners with greater performance. They also knew that fuel efficiency was important and Daimler-Benz thus became a pioneer in the field of diesel technology.

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Post-war Miracle – Form and Diversity.

The German economic miracle after World War II would have been inconceivable without vehicles from Daimler-Benz. The political fathers of the social market economy, the Deutschmark and the economic miracle had themselves chauffeured through the flourishing country in representative Mercedes-Benz sedans and convertibles. And anyone who benefited sufficiently from the economic miracle liked to demonstrate this with a Mercedes-Benz.

Cars like the Adenauer Mercedes, the Gullwing or the Ponton – the basic model at the time – featured high up on the German citizens’ “wanted” list. The cars with the three-pointed star attracted buyers not only with attributes typical of the brand like quality, comfort, longevity, dynamism and representative elegance. Also, the developers in the Mercedes-Benz design studios had recognized the signs of change and ushered in a new era in form and design in Germany. The car increasingly developed from a practically designed means of transport into an individually styled basic commodity. It was a time of new departures formed out of sheet metal, expressing zeitgeist as much as raising hopes of a better future. The same stylistic approach was adopted for the practically designed Mercedes-Benz vans and trucks without which the economic miracle would have been equally inconceivable. They were the untiring workhorses in those days, keeping goods supplies in full swing and working incessantly on construction sites and in agriculture.

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Visionaries – Safety and the Environment.

In the development of new models, Mercedes-Benz engineers have by tradition accorded high priority to safety and the environment at all times. After the invention of the automobile in 1886, it was initially a question of giving the new means of transport operational reliability and easy handling. Once the motorized vehicle had established itself as a reliable means of transport, the engineers and technicians were able to devote themselves to new development fields which had been given little attention before. Among other things, this included the improvement of active and passive safety. Mercedes-Benz has always played a pioneering role in this field as well, thereby positively influencing automotive development throughout the world.

A crucial era in this respect was the 1960s and 1970s. Men like the ingenious Mercedes-Benz design engineer Béla Barényi contributed substantially to the enhancement of safety with the development of the passenger safety cell. Other milestones were the anti-lock braking system (ABS) and the airbag. The researchers and developers at Mercedes-Benz have also been pioneers in the systematic development of environmental compatibility for decades. In research into alternative propulsion technologies, they frequently broke new ground and set up fully operational prototypes with electric, natural-gas and alcohol drive systems as early as the 1960s and 1970s. Even the gas turbine and hybrid drive were tested at the time. The reduction of exhaust gas emissions had been an issue even before the introduction of the closedloop catalytic converter in the 1980s. Mercedes-Benz had engaged in systematic development work in the field of emission control as early as the late 1960s.

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New Start – The Road to Emission-free Mobility.

The 1980s mark the beginning of great social and political changes. A greater sensitivity for environmental issues gains social importance. At the same time, the end of the Cold War, globalization, an increasingly networked world and major economic crises present new challenges. Characteristic of these changing times: the individual acquires more importance, people move centre stage.

The Mercedes-Benz brand responds to these challenges with many multifaceted and innovative technical solutions. The optimization of internal combustion engines and the development of alternative drive systems like battery-electric drive and the fuel cell to the production stage mark milestones on the road to emission-free mobility. In addition, the company opens up new markets, participates in building and expanding sustainable infrastructures and develops new mobility concepts. Mercedes-Benz invented the automobile and is passionately moulding its future.

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Silver Arrows – Races & Records.

Racing successes are an important part of the Mercedes-Benz story. Ever since the first automobile race in 1894, Mercedes-Benz and its predecessor brands have repeatedly used motor races to prove their performance and reliability. The company’s proud record in the motorsport arena is, of course, dominated by the Silver Arrows that have become part of car racing history. The creation of these vehicles alone, in 1934, is the stuff of legend, marking the beginning of an amazing run of successes, halted only by the outbreak of World War II in 1939.

So the first chapter in the Silver Arrow story was short, but incredibly successful. Drivers such as Manfred von Brauchitsch, Rudolf Caracciola, and Hermann Lang breathed life into the Silver Arrow legend, in the process becoming legends themselves. The second Silver Arrow era, which began in the early 1950s, brought even more impressive results. Germany had only just been rebuilt from the ruins when the silver sports cars and Formula One racing cars returned to the scene with a series of spectacular victories and world championship titles. And the magnificent Silver Arrow tradition was renewed once again in 1989 and 1990, when Mercedes-Benz sports prototype cars won two world championships. This record of outstanding achievement still continues today, in Formula One and DTM German Touring Car Championships.

In Formula One racing, the acme of international motorsport, Mercedes-Benz and Mika Hakkinen have won two championship titles. And in the DTM championship, Mercedes-Benz has consistently been the most successful manufacturer over many years. But the company’s involvement in motorsport extends much further than this. Successes in the international car-rallying arena, in the Monte Carlo rally and the gruelling Paris-Dakar long-distance rallies, for example, are matched by a string of impressive victories in truck racing competitions.

Over the decades, Mercedes-Benz has consistently delivered outstanding performances in the motorsport arena. And the presentation of the most famous racing vehicles in this museum is just as fascinating as the Mercedes-Benz history of motorsport achievement, enabling visitors to experience the legend for themselves. A gigantic steep-bank curve, climbing ever higher into the space of the building, provides the perfect display environment for the Silver Arrows, touring and sports cars, rally cars, and race trucks. You can almost hear the rumble of the engines and the applause from the spectators, and sense the excitement as the drivers engage in an overtaking duel.

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Concept cats

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All in all, this is one of the best Car Museums. The theme based details give the visitors a very immersive experience making this a must-visit if you are in the area.

However, as with all Car Museums, there is always something missing. There are some amazing concepts that Mercedes has been showcasing world over. Most of them were not presented. There was nothing on the AMGs- I was really hoping to see the AMG One but alas, it wasn't to be.
The G Class and Unimog too deserve their own floor space. However, they were just parked without any fanfare. Would've loved to spend some time around Unimogs.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[Jeroen]

Thanks for sharing. It has been at least some 10-15 years since I last visited.

I find it peculiar Mercedes putting some of the USA variants on display instead of its European ones. Horrible bumpers.

Jeroen

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Originally Posted by Jeroen

I find it peculiar Mercedes putting some of the USA variants on display instead of its European ones. Horrible bumpers.

Jeroen

that is indeed a good observation. There were some of those oddities.

[DudeWithaFiat]

Had visited in 2016. Amazing place. The only turn-off was that the W124 with an inflated price tag that was displayed in their 'used car sales' block downstairs. It had paint run marks on the door. I`ll see something like that there was unbelievable.