Visit the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart-Untertürkheim in Germany to see exhibitions of historic vehicles, vintage automobiles, racing cars, engines, and motor technology developed by the oldest car brand in the world.
The huge Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart displays many of the most desirable cars ever produced in Germany. Mercedes-Benz has a history of around 140 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.
Visit the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany
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 may 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.
Special exhibitions mean that there is always something new to see in the museum and no guarantee that some of the cars of famous former owners are on display, such as 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 may also be seen outside the museum itself in the basement and parking garage.
Some large Mercedes-Benz cars with unsavory 1930s and 1940s history are not shown in the Mercedes-Benz museum but are often on display in the privately run Technology Museum in Sinsheim — a museum where it is easy to spend the whole day.
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 €12 for adults, €6 for children and students over 12, and free for children under 12. 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.
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. Even if not driving, peak into the parking garage as some special cars are on display in glass cases.
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. Follow the signs to the Mercedes-Benz Museum — often smaller than those pointing to the Mercedes-Benz Arena, which is nearby but with different walking paths.
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 may enjoy cheap deals at the Hugo Boss factory outlet malls in nearby Metzingen – most trains to Metzingen even stop en route in Bad Cannstatt.
Best Car and Automobile Museums in Germany
Germany has many car museums with some of the best collections on display at the factory museums of major manufacturers. Two are in Stuttgart: the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen and the large Mercedes Benz Museum in Stuttgart-Untertürkheim. The BMW Museum in Munich is adjacent to the Olympiagelände where the ill-fated 1972 Games were staged. The Autostadt in Wolfsburg is a very popular destination but far fewer visitors look in at the nearby Volkswagen Museum covering only the VW brand.
Major museums in Germany with significant car collections include the Verkehrsmuseum section of the German Museum in Munich (including the first Benz Patentwagen car produced), the German technology museum in Berlin, and the technology museum in Sinsheim. The latter also has many military vehicles as do the Museum of Military History in Dresden and the German Tank Museum in Munster near Hamburg.