A Tour Of The Mercedes-Benz Museum In Stuttgart, Germany

I can’t say I’m a huge fan of Mercedes – I’ve never owned one.  I certainly have nothing against the brand, and certainly wouldn’t be opposed to owning one – I’ve come close to buying one or two.  Even though I’m not a huge Mercedes guy, I have to admit that the Mercedes-Benz Museum is the best of the three German automotive manufacturer museums I visited during a recent trip to Germany (you can read about my tour of the BMW Museum by clicking here, and my tour of the Porsche Museum by clicking here).   Having went through the Porsche Museum earlier in the day, we arrived at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in the late afternoon:

Like the other two museums we previously visited, the Mercedes-Benz Museum building was very new and modern looking having been redesigned and rebuilt in May of 2006.  It may not look like much from the outside, but the complex is huge – 178,000 sq ft housing more than 160 vehicles.

The Mercedes-Benz museum also felt more like a traditional museum – it was more than just a tribute to selected models, but rather an eduction on the history of the brand.  Here’s a few photos of some of the historical models which caught my eye:

Here’s a classic “gull wing” 300 SL:

I think this photo really sums up with what I learned about Mercedes-Benz at the museum:

In the US, we think of Mercedes-Benz as an exclusive manufacturer of luxury vehicles (as represented by the car in the foreground) but in fact Mercedes-Benz probably has more in common with America’s General Motors than Ferrari or Rolls Royce.  Mercedes-Benz manufactures all manner of buses, trucks, work and emergency vehicles, and other decidedly non-luxurious, “everyman” type vehicles.

Of course, Mercedes-Benz does indeed make luxury cars – cars which have been sought after by the celebrity set for decades.  Here’s a photo of a Mercedes owned by Princess Diana as well as the infamous “Pope mobile”:

Mercedes also has a fine heritage in the sport of auto racing:

If you make it to Stuttgart and have any interest in cars whatsoever, you’ll certainly enjoy setting time aside to visit the Mercedes Museum.