Mercedes-Benz world

Exterior view of the Mercedes-Benz Museum

The Mercedes-Benz World is a customer center of the Daimler company in Stuttgart - Bad Cannstatt . It was opened on May 19, 2006 and consists of the new Mercedes-Benz Museum and the Mercedes-Benz Center . The area is located directly in front of the main gate of the Mercedes-Benz plant in Untertürkheim on the B 14 on an artificially raised hill opposite the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Neckarpark . The museum is by far the most visited in Stuttgart; by April 2018 it was visited by more than nine million people from over 190 nations.

Mercedes-Benz Museum

Mercedes-Benz Museum by Ben van Berkel . View from the open air arena

Glass facade of the Mercedes-Benz Museum

Elevator in the Mercedes-Benz Museum

Prototypes in the museum

Engines and propellers

Mythos room 3: upheavals - diesel and compressor, 1914 to 1945

Art in front of the Mercedes-Benz Center - Max Bill : 1989 group of three pillars

The Mercedes-Benz Museum was located on the premises of the Mercedes-Benz plant in Untertürkheim until March 18, 2006 and was reopened in the Mercedes-Benz world in May 2006. The museum takes up around 3,500 m² of floor space and offers around 17,000 m² of exhibition space over nine floors. The building is 47.5 m high and has an enclosed space of 210,000 m³. There is an open-air arena for 900 spectators next to the main entrance.

architecture

The museum building was designed by the Dutch architect Ben van Berkel and his architecture office UNStudio . The floor plan has the shape of a rounded Reuleaux triangle with a uniform width of 80 m. The inner courtyard is formed by an atrium , congruent with the outer shape of the building . Two inclined levels wind around the atrium in a form based on the double helix of DNA ( trefoil ) from top to bottom. The resulting two tours start at the top and wind over a total of nine levels to the exit. From design to implementation, the planning was based on a three-dimensional data model that was revised 50 times during the construction period and generated a total of 35,000 work plans. 33 m wide, column-free rooms that are able to carry the load of ten trucks are just as much a part of the architectural features as the double-curved load-bearing components: so-called twists, which were used for the first time in this shape and size. 1,800 triangular panes are installed in the ribbon windows, none of which are identical to any other.

The concept for the museum expansion was developed by the Stuttgart office HG Merz . On their way through the museum, visitors experience a journey through time through more than 130 years of automotive history.

From the top level, two paths lead in wide curves through the extensive collection. The myth tour follows the history of the brand chronologically from the invention of the automobile to the present day. On the second tour, five collection halls focus on different time periods. The visitor can switch between the different spheres at any time. For the first time, the museum is now also presenting the company's more than 100-year history of commercial vehicles. Both tours end in the steep curve of the “Silver Arrows - Races and Records” room. From there, the route continues through the “Fascination of Technology” to the new Mercedes-Benz branch.

The chronologically oriented myth rooms tell the story of the Mercedes-Benz brand and divide it into themes and epochs.

Myth 1: Pioneers - The Invention of the Automobile, 1886 to 1900
Myth 2: Mercedes - The birth of the brand, 1900 to 1914
Myth 3: upheavals - diesel and compressor, 1914 to 1945
Myth 4: Wonder Years - Form and Diversity, 1945 to 1960
Myth 5: Thought Leaders - Safety and the Environment, 1960 to 1982
Myth 6: Departure - the way to emission-free mobility, 1982 to today
Myth 7: Silver Arrows - races and records

The collection rooms show the brand's vehicles, arranged thematically. Here one discovers exhibits like a normal bus Mercedes-Benz O 305 , the famous "Millipede" - the heavy truck LP 333 , a fire engine LF 3500 with turntable ladder or the Popemobile of Pope . John Paul II The rooms offer large facades a wide view via Stuttgart and the surrounding area.

Collection 1: Gallery of Travel
Collection 2: Gallery of Loads
Collection 3: Gallery of Helpers
Collection 4: Gallery of Names
Collection 5: Gallery of Heroes

The fascination of technology plays a special role at the lowest level. It is not part of the tour, but is freely accessible as a self-contained exhibition. With the help of an elaborate staging, it enables a glimpse into the daily work of Daimler developers and engineers and thus also an outlook into the future of the automobile.

A café, a restaurant and various shops complete the offer for the visitor. The direct link with the branch's showroom ensures the seamless continuation of the Mercedes legend from classic cars to current products.

history

The company has had a vehicle collection since 1923. To mark the company's 50th anniversary in 1936, Daimler-Benz AG set up the first museum in the Untertürkheim plant, which has since been expanded several times. In 1938, according to the “Guide to the Untertürkheim Museum of Daimler-Benz AG”, eighteen vehicles from Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft, nine from Benz and six automobiles from Mercedes-Benz were shown. There were also nineteen engines (starter engines, automobile, airplane and boat engines), three rail vehicles, a replica of the riding car and the Daimler motorboat "Marie" from 1888. New topics were added in 1949. The inventory of the racing department with vehicles, documents and other material was transferred to the historical collection. In the next few years the collection grew and the flow of visitors increased steadily.

In 1955 planning began for a new, large Daimler-Benz Museum as an independent building on the site of the Untertürkheim plant. Construction began in 1958 in the middle of the Untertürkheim plant. The new Daimler-Benz Museum planned by architects Rolf Gutbier and Hans Kammerer was opened in 1961 on the 75th anniversary of the invention of the automobile. A gap of 72 m × 46 m was specified. So the museum had to grow in height in order to offer enough space. The result was a museum building with 42,000 m³ of enclosed space and around 3,250 m² of museum space, including 1,200 m² of exhibition space. There were also 1,000 m² of offices, 700 m² of technical rooms and 1,200 m² of underground garages and storage rooms. In addition to the historical collection, the current Mercedes-Benz program was now also on view in the entrance hall on the ground floor. The historical show was arranged chronologically: the invention of the automobile and the prehistory as well as the vehicles before 1926 were located on the ground floor. Vehicles and chassis from Mercedes-Benz as well as engines for boats, rail vehicles and airplanes could be seen on the first floor, the racing history was presented on the second floor.

The Daimler-Benz Museum was closed in 1985. The reason was a comprehensive renovation, conversion and the fundamental redesign and expansion for the anniversary "100 Years of the Automobile" in 1986. The architects Knut Lohrer, Dieter Herrmann and HG Merz developed and implemented the concept for the redesign. The 25 year old building was given a new front with a continuous glass facade. The enclosed space of the museum was expanded by roofing the inner courtyards. The previous floors were given the character of galleries. They were extended with ramps and bridges made of steel, which served both as exhibition space and for access to the collection. The display area of the museum had grown to 5,760 m² and offered a new access to the collection. A large part of the racing story was installed on the ramps that led from one floor to the next. In this way, the motorsport vehicles became a connecting moment, spiraling from the ground floor of the museum to the second floor in a dynamic spiral, from the earliest Daimler racing car to the current competition vehicles. The visitor either chose a chronological walk through the exhibition or, depending on their interests, visited a selection of the 26 thematic focal points.

In 1986, Daimler-Benz broke new technical ground with the introduction of an audio information system that provided visitors with information about the individual exhibits. The respective text was played from a flash memory. The information, which lasted around two minutes, was continuously output via infrared transmitters in a spatially narrowly defined area. The digital sound of the audio guides, known as the “sound stick”, was also contrasted with films in the staging of the exhibition in 1986: for example, old motorsport films and documentaries were edited for the “racing cinema”.

In 1989 the museum was renamed the Mercedes-Benz Museum. Due to the limited space and the unfriendly location within the factory premises, the company decided in 2000 to build a new museum on the edge of the factory premises. In 2001, Ben van Berkel and his architecture firm UNStudio won the architecture competition that was launched . The building opened on May 19, 2006.

Exhibits

The museum shows historical vehicles from the first car in the world ( Benz Patent Motorwagen number 1 ) to the legendary Silver Arrows to the present day of the Mercedes-Benz brand . You can see Konrad Adenauer's last official vehicle as well as the cars of Kaiser Wilhelm II and Hirohito (Japan).

Daimler's riding car from 1885 (replica)
Daimler's motorized carriage from 1886
DMG truck from 1896
Silver Arrow W 25 from 1934

A replica of the bus used by the German national soccer team at the 1974 World Cup , which was presented at the 2005 IAA in Frankfurt am Main , is also on display in the new museum . During the World Cup, Mercedes-Benz provided each national team with a bus painted in the national colors. The GDR national soccer team refused to take their bus because the hammer and circle as national symbols were missing.

Official bus of the German national soccer team in 1974
... but a replica.
Bus from behind

and display information about the image

Panorama of the vehicles above the café in the entrance area

and display information about the image

Mercedes-Benz World (left the museum, right the sales office)

Events

Bambi Awards 2006 on November 30, 2006
Presentation of the McLaren MP4-23 on January 7, 2008
In January 2010, the children's exhibition “Klangkörper” took place in the Mercedes-Benz Museum - there children could make music, make vibrations visible and hear their own heartbeat .
In 2013, part of the children's film festival Tricks for Kids took place for the first time on the premises of the Mercedes-Benz Museum as part of the 20th Stuttgart International Animated Film Festival .
Open air cinema on the open air stage since 2007
Cars & Coffee since 2011
Since 2011 social media nights
Mercedes-Benz concert summer since 2017
In August 2017, Nico Rosberg personally accompanied his winning car to the Mercedes-Benz Museum and then got to know around 600 fans at a meet & greet on the open-air stage.

Mercedes-Benz Center

The Mercedes-Benz Center has a sales and exhibition area of 9,500 m² and a total floor area of 36,000 m². It is connected to the Mercedes-Benz Museum by a 100 m long connecting structure, which contains a restaurant and the museum shop.

Numbers, dates and facts

Myth room 2: Mercedes - the birth of the brand, 1900 to 1914

Mythos room 4: Wonder Years - Form and Diversity, 1945 to 1960

Collection room 4: Gallery of names

Myth room 5: Pioneers - safety and the environment, 1960 to 1982

The museum is by far the most visited of the Stuttgart museums . In 2017 it counted 876,109 visitors. In 2014 the museum counted 711,000, in 2013 it had 702,000 visitors. In April 2018, the nine millionth visitor was counted.

Five months after the opening in October 2006, 500,000 visitors were counted. By June 2007 one million and by September 2008 two million visitors were counted. By the end of 2012 the museum had almost five million guests.

architect		UNStudio , Ben van Berkel & Caroline Bos , Amsterdam
Museum designer		HG Merz , Stuttgart
Building height		47.5 m
Enclosed space		210,000 m³
Floor space		4800 m²
Levels		9
total weight		110,000 t
Exhibition space	total	16,500 m²
	myth	09,100 m²
	Collection	05,300 m²
	Fascination with technology	01,300 m²
	Club	0.0700 m²
Number of exhibits	total	1500
	vehicles	160
	Watercraft	1
	Aircraft	2
	Engines	19th
	Cycles	1
Visitor path through the museum	common	approx. 1.5 to 2 km
Visitor path through the museum	longest	5 km
Number of triangular outer glass panes		1800
Electrical and data cables laid in the concrete		630 km
Heating pipes laid in the concrete		100 km
Amount of heating water contained		33,000 l
Number of lights in the building		12,000
Weight of the media ring in room myth 6		14 t
Number of plans during the shell construction phase		35,000

literature

(in chronological order)

Wolfgang Schmarbeck: Auto museums in Europe. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1982, ISBN 3-87943-852-8 , pp. 79-81.

Klemens Mörmann (ed.): The German museum guide in color. Museums and collections in the Federal Republic of Germany and West Berlin. Book Guild Gutenberg, Frankfurt am Main / Olten / Vienna 1983, DNB 870131540 , pp. 897–898.

Christoph Hahn, Siegmar Hohl (ed.): The great museum guide. Collections on art, culture, nature and technology in Germany. Bassermann Verlag, Gütersloh / Munich 2000, ISBN 978-3-8094-5013-9 , p. 427.

Gerhard Heidbrink (Ed.): Mercedes-Benz Museum: Myth & Collection. Delius Klasing Verlag, Bielefeld 2006, ISBN 978-3-7688-1858-2 .

Ben van Berkel: Buy Me a Mercedes-Benz. The book about the museum. Actar Verlag, Barcelona 2006, ISBN 978-84-96540-36-1 .

Max-Gerrit von Pein, Enrico Müller: Mercedes-Benz Museum. Stadler, Konstanz 2007, ISBN 978-3-7977-0532-7 .

Hans Schilder: The fascination of oldtimers - car museums in Germany and neighboring countries. Hampp, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3-936682-15-1 , pp. 28-35.

Bernd Ostmann , Malte Jürgens : Auto Museums - The great guide of auto motor und sport and Motor Klassik . Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-613-02866-1 , pp. 8-13.

Fascination Mercedes-Benz: 130 years of the automobile - 10 years of the new Mercedes-Benz Museum. (= auto motor und sport Edition ). Motor Presse Stuttgart, Stuttgart 2016, ISBN 978-3-613-30821-3 .

State Office for Museum Care Baden-Württemberg , Museum Association Baden-Württemberg eV (Hrsg.): Museums in Baden-Württemberg. 7th, completely revised edition. Theiss, Stuttgart 2018, ISBN 978-3-8062-2629-4 , p. 455.