Stuttgart is the capital of the southwest German state of Baden-Württemberg. The city is known as the industrial heartland of this state and is famous for its car manufacturing. Stuttgart is the home of well-known car brands Porsche and Mercedes. Both have museums in Stuttgart.
Personally, I am as far from a “petrol-head” as you can get, but I absolutely loved my visit to the Mercedes-Benz Museum during my visit to Stuttgart (take a read of my Mercedes-Benz Museum Adventure), it is a great museum whether you are into cars or not. Well designed and well-thought-out. If you’re looking for things to do in Stuttgart, a visit to the Mercedes Museum is not to be missed!
About The Mercedes-Benz Museum
The museum was established in 2006, and while it doesn’t have a lot of history itself, the museum takes you through a lot of history. In fact, the museum takes you through over 130 years of history. This is done over nine levels, with twelve rooms covering over 16500m2.
The building itself is a futuristic landmark. Based on the “cloverleaf” concept, the museum building has three overlapping circles with the centre removed to form a triangular atrium. The shape of the building mimics the Wankel Engine.
The Building Is A Unique Landmark In Stuttgart
Both architecture and exhibition are interwoven concepts. Inside the building has a “double helix” interior. This, along with the height of the building maximises space to be used for exhibitions.
The museum building itself is beautiful, so it’s worth visiting this museum purely to see the incredible, and clever, architecture.
Visiting The Stuttgart Mercedes-Benz Museum
As the museum building is large and was designed to maximise usable space, there is a lot to see. In fact, there are over 1,500 exhibits to see, so I’d advise making sure you have plenty of time to see this museum.
There Are Lots Of Exhibits To See In The Mercedes-Benz Museum
When I went you were given a free audio tour, which automatically starts as you reach certain parts of the museum (quite the futuristic museum).
The double-helix interior not only maximises the space but also divides the museum into two distinct sections: the Legends rooms and the Collections rooms. So depending on how much time you have you can go through both tours, or just one.
You begin your tour of Mercedes-Benz by going up a lift to the top level, then you work your way down the building going through the various rooms and collections.
The Legends And Collections
As you travel down the legend rooms take you through the history of Mercedes-Benz. This includes the history of Daimler and Benz, who merged to create Mercedes-Benz. Daimler is the start of the automotive revolution, starting with his Motorbike, which can be seen in the museum. Benz just beat Diamler in the making of the worlds first car.
Daimlers Pioneering Motorbike
You will also learn about the Mercedes-Benz logo and what it represents (which I found very interesting). As you travel down the building back to the ground floor, timelines take you through not only what was happening in the motor industry but also what was happening in the world at the same time and (sometimes) how this affected the motor industry.
The collection rooms show old cars from the time you have just “travelled” through as you came down. This starts with some of the oldest cars and you work your way down to much newer and even future Mercedes-Benz models. These rooms showcase some of the milestones Mercedes cars, like their pivotal role in the invention of airbags.
There Are Classic And Ground-Breaking Cars To Be Seen
Before visiting, be sure to check the times and prices on the official site (it’s also worth booking your ticket beforehand if you can).
How To Get To The Mercedes-Benz Museum
First things first, where is the Mercedes-Benz Museum? It’s a little out of the main city of Stuttgart, in southwest Germany.
When I say a little out of the main city of Stuttgart, the Mercedes-Benz Museum is just under 4.5 miles (4km) from the city centre. It is on the banks of the River Necker, just outside the Daimler factory.
It’s Not Just Cars At The Mercedes-Benz Museum
From Stuttgart City Centre
To get to the museum, it is possible to walk, but this does take over an hour. From the central station (Hauptbahnhof) you want to head towards Mitterler Schlossgarten, then go through this park diagonally. You want to come out at the Neckator Metro station. From here head up Neckerstraße. Keep following this street until you come to Hackstraße on your right and turn down here. Follow this street, it changes name at some point, but keep going straight, until you find Talstraße, turn left onto this street. Keep going down this street, you will cross the river and come to a T-junction, you want to turn right. You’ll soon see the museum building ahead of you (and probably the crowds too).
If you don’t fancy the walk, the Mercedes-Benz Museum is easily accessible by public transport. To do this, all you need to do is catch the S1 (S-Bahn) to Neckarpark (towards Plochingen). Once at Neckarpark S-Bahn, you can not miss the museum, it is extremely well signposted.
You Really Can’t Miss The Signposts To The Museum
No matter if you’re into cars or not, the Mercedes-Benz Museum is a wonderful and interesting museum to visit. I absolutely loved visiting!
If I’ve tempted you to head to the not-so-touristy German city of Stuttgart, why not get a City Pass so you can really explore the city? And don’t forget to check out accommodation on HostelWorld
2 Comments
The Mercedes-Benz Museum is a tremendous place to spend time. I hope you also had a chance to visit the Porsche Museum too. The region has such a rich automotive history.
I absolutely loved the Mercedes-Benz Museum, unfortunately, I didn’t have the time to visit the Porsche Museum (and I was a little car-ed out, to be honest). Hopefully in the future, as I’d love to go back to Stuttgart, it’s definitely an underrated destination!