The Mercedes Benz Museum in Stuttgart-Untertürkheim in Germany exhibits historic vehicles, vintage automobiles, racing cars, engines, and motor technology.
The huge Mercedes Benz Museum in Stuttgart displays many of the most desirable cars ever produced in Germany. Mercedes Benz has a history of more than 125 years and enough historic and vintage automobiles to fill the massive factory museum in Untertürkheim, where Mercedes Benz has traditionally produced its luxury vehicles. The large museum has a wealth of cars and vehicle-related technology on display but is very easy to enjoy even by visitors with less enthusiasm for automobiles. The Mercedes Benz Museum is a great family destination too.
Visiting the Mercedes Benz Museum in Stuttgart
The enormous, ultramodern Mercedes Benz Museum opened in Stuttgart-Untertürkheim in 2006 to display the huge collection of historic vehicles owned by the world’s oldest automobile manufacturer. In addition to cars, the museum also displays trucks, buses, experimental vehicles, technology, and racing cars built by Mercedes Benz. Around 200 vehicles are on display at any given time – some are even parked in the underground public garage.
The Mercedes Benz Museum is spread over eight floors with visitors usually taking an elevator up to the eighth floor to start the tour of the museum. Although the elevator ride is only 34 m, visitors spend at least 1.5 km walking down. Car enthusiasts can easily cover 5 km on foot while enjoying the entire collection.
Famous Cars in the Mercedes Benz Museum
The collection of the Mercedes Benz Museum is grouped into two main exhibitions: the Legend Tour (Mythosrundgang) and Collection Tour (Collectionsrundgang). Further temporary and side displays enhance the museum visit. Visitors follow a mostly circular walkway down several floors to see the cars and can easily integrate the display halls of both main tours on the way down.
The Legend Tour explains the history of Mercedes Benz mostly chronologically, starting with a copy of Carl Benz’s first 1886 Patentwagen (the original is in the Deutsches Museum in Munich) and the engines that made Carl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler famous. The exhibition covers the main streams in the development of Mercedes Benz from the invention of the automobile to the cars of the future.
The Collection Tour consists of five thematic exhibitions where similar vehicles from different periods are displayed together to show the development and changes of cars and other motorized vehicles. It is for example possible to see tour buses and trucks from different periods grouped together.
The Gallery of Celebrities (Galerie der Namen) shows cars of famous former owners. On display are for example the Mercedes cars owned by Kaiser Wilhelm II (770 Grosser Mercedes), Emperor Hirohito (770), Princess Diana (500SL), and Pope John Paul II (Popemobile 230G).
The last exhibition hall is of the silver arrows racing cars and cars used for speed records set by Mercedes Benz. Design studies can be seen outside the museum itself in the basement.
Opening Hours and Tickets for the Mercedes Benz Museum
The Mercedes Benz Museum is open Tuesday to Sunday from 9 am to 6 pm. It is open on most public holidays.
Admission to the museum is €8 for adults, €4 for children and students over 15, and free for children under 15. Half-price tickets are sold from 4:30 to 5 pm, although it will be a push to see the whole museum in only 90 minutes. Admission includes a multilanguage audio guide with special versions for children.
Family Visits to the Mercedes Benz Museum in Stuttgart
The Mercedes Benz Museum has a wealth of information on Mercedes Benz and the development of cars in general. It is a great destination for motoring enthusiasts but most visitors will find the museum easy to enjoy.
The museum is also a great destination for families with children. Several technology displays are interactive and a few well-marked vehicles may be entered. (In the adjacent Mercedes Benz display room visitors may get into almost any new car and play with the buttons.)
The museum is fully adapted for wheelchair users and families with strollers will enjoy the easy access ramps as well.
Getting to the Mercedes Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany
The Mercedes Benz Museum is to the east of Stuttgart in the suburb Untertürkheim. Drivers should follow the signs to the Museum car park – bear in mind that almost everything in this area has Mercedes Benz somewhere in the name. Drivers of vintage cars – not necessarily bearing a three-pointed star – may often park for free at the entrance to the museum.
Public transportation to the Mercedes Benz Museum is also easy. The closest S-Bahn station is Neckar Park (Mercedes Benz), a short walk from the museum. S-Bahn train S1 from Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof (main train station) stops here. An alternative is to use the train to Bad Cannstatt station (S-Bahn S1, S2, S3, regional trains) and continue by bus 56 to Mercedes Benz Welt – the bus stops right in front of the museum entrance. Boats on the Neckar River use the pier Mercedes Benz Welt / Neckar Park.
Stuttgart is an interesting city to visit with many cultural and historical sights worth exploring. However, it is most famous for its car industry with the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart-Sindelfingen also very popular with visitors. Shoppers can enjoy cheap deals at the Hugo Boss factory outlet malls in nearby Metzingen – most trains to Metzingen even stop en route in Bad Cannstatt.
See also: Best German Car Manufacturers Museums