TWP: Mercedes-Benz Museum

Andy went to Germany last weekend to visit his relatives. Here is his write-up of the Mercedes-Benz Museum:

One of the most obviously engineering specific locations I visited during my time in Germany was the Mercedes-Benz museum. The building itself is an impressive structure on the scale of the types of projects Ramboll is working on. It opened in 2005 so it’s fairly new, and I was told that construction of the building itself was only possible with modern computer models and testing. Of course the building wasn’t the reason why I visited though; it was the cars.

 The collection of vehicles at the museum can be described as nothing less than massive. Hundreds of vehicles on at least 4 or 5 floors (it’s difficult to tell because the museum spirals from top to bottom). You first take a very sci-fi looking elevator to the top floor where the oldest vehicles in the collection sit. Many are replicas because the originals no longer exist, but it was nonetheless very interesting to see the origins of the European car industry.  They did have the oldest surviving Mercedes on display, and I believe it was near a hundred years old. As you walk the spiral ramp from each level down to the next, minor exhibits line the wall with current events from the transitional time period to give you context as to the era of the vehicles. My favorite cars across the various floors were the limited editions and the prototypes since I had never seen most of them before. One such car was designed for a race that got canceled, and then was driven instead by an executive in the company. There was also a collection of one off prototypes and F1 race cars. I thought it was pretty awesome experiences because the museum is one of the only places you could ever see them in person.

Finally I have to comment on the simulator that I experienced at the museum. After a couple of bad experiences at the science museum here in London, I had low expectations for the experience, but it was actually quite good. Instead of animated footage, they used actually footage taken from the cockpit of various Mercedes F1 cars, and added the motion of the simulator. Between the motion of the simulator, and the turning of the fake steering wheel, you could almost imagine being in the F1 race. The footage makes you realize how much skill it takes to participate in one of those races. The cars are blisteringly fast, and turns come every second or two. My brain could hardly process the imagery coming at it, so I have a renewed respect for F1 drivers.

I can’t possibly write about all of the awesome cars at the museum, but I hope this gives potential visitors a reason to make it a planned destination. Anyone with the slightest interest in cars should definitely visit. You can even buy a Merc at the lot next door if you feel so inclined.