---
type: "Article"
title: "Mercedes-Benz Museum – A Passion for Horsepower"
description: "The Mercedes-Benz Museum showcases more than 125 years of automotive history. 160 glittering, shiny vehicles compete on nine levels to stir the gasoline in your veins …in our case especially, because they let us take the first car ever made dating from 1886 for a test drive! But let’s take it one step at aRead More"
resource: "https://travelmemo.com/germany/mercedes-benz-museum-passion-horsepower"
author: "Walter Schaerer"
publisher: "Travelmemo"
photo_count: 9
tags: ["Mercedes-Benz", "Stuttgart", "Germany"]
entities:
  - "https://travelmemo.com/ontology/places/germany"
  - "https://travelmemo.com/ontology/places/zuerich"
  - "https://travelmemo.com/ontology/topics/museum"
  - "https://travelmemo.com/ontology/topics/architecture"
  - "https://travelmemo.com/ontology/topics/culinary-tourism"
  - "https://travelmemo.com/ontology/topics/experience-travel"
  - "https://travelmemo.com/ontology/topics/design"
  - "https://travelmemo.com/ontology/topics/itinerary"
  - "https://travelmemo.com/author/walter-schaerer"
generated: { by: "human:https://travelmemo.com/author/walter-schaerer", at: 2026-07-04T13:59:26+00:00 }
verified:
  - { by: "human:https://travelmemo.com/author/katja-birrer", at: 2014-02-15T16:28:19+00:00 }
sources:
  - id: photos
    resource: mercedes-benz-museum-passion-horsepower.md#photos
    title: "Original photography by Walter Schaerer"
    author: "human:https://travelmemo.com/author/walter-schaerer"
timestamp: 2026-07-04T13:59:26+00:00
---

# Mercedes-Benz Museum – A Passion for Horsepower

> The Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart traces over 125 years of automotive history across nine levels of a striking double-helix building, housing 160 vehicles from the world's first gasoline-powered car to Formula 1 championship racers.

## Destination
Stuttgart, Germany

## What to see
- **Double Helix Architecture** — Designed by Dutch architect Ben van Berkel, the building is constructed largely of glass and aluminum with minimal corners or edges.
- **Chronological Car Exhibition** — Exhibitions begin on the eighth floor and spiral down through automotive history, integrated with large-format world-event timelines.
- **Silver Arrows – Racing and Records** — A banked-curve display of legendary race cars including the Phoenix, Lightning Benz, Silver Arrows, and Lewis Hamilton's 2008 Formula 1 World Championship car.
- **Benz Patent Motor Car (1886)** — The world's first gasoline-powered automobile, a three-wheeled vehicle designed by Carl Benz with 0.9 horsepower.
- **Retro-Look Lifts** — Eye-catching period-styled elevators that offer glimpses of each era as visitors ascend to the top floor.

## What to do
- **Test Drive the 1886 Benz Patent Motor Car** — Visitors can take a written test and, if successful, drive a replica of the world's first gasoline car, which reaches up to 12 mph.
- **Mercedes-Benz Nights of the Stars** — A twice-yearly gourmet event where a top chef hosts a culinary evening on the museum's top floor among the cars.

## Good to know
The museum opened in 2006. The three-pointed Mercedes star symbolizes Gottlieb Daimler's goal of universal motorization on land, water, and air. The Mercedes name comes from the daughter of Daimler dealer Emil Jellinek, whose push led to the first purpose-built Mercedes race car in 1901.

## Photos

```yaml
photos:
  - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Mercedes-Benz-Museum-Aussenansicht.jpg"
    caption: "Exterior of the Mercedes-Benz Museum © Daimler AG"
  - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Daimler-Motorkutsche-Benz-Patent-Motorwagen.jpg"
    caption: "On the left, Gottlieb Daimler‘s motor carriage; on the right, Carl Benz' Patent Motor Car"
  - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/300-SL-Fluegeltueren-Oldtimer1.jpg"
    caption: "Mercedes 300 SL Gullwing"
  - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/F1-Silberpfeil-Mercedes-Benz-Museum1.jpg"
    caption: "Formula-1 Silver Arrows in the Mercedes-Benz Museum"
  - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Silberpfeile-Mercedes-Benz-Museum.jpg"
    caption: "DTM racer on the Museum’s banked curve"
  - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Oldtimer-Auspuffanlage-199x300.jpg"
    caption: "Mercedes star and exhaust pipes in the Mercedes Benz Museum"
  - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/508-M-Mercedes-Benz-Museum.jpg"
    caption: "The sporty \"Mercedes\" Simplex 40 PS, so-named after the daughter of Daimler dealer Emil Jellinek"
  - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Benz-Patent-Motorwagen-Walter-Schaerer-Mercedes-Benz-Museum.jpg"
    caption: "Test pilot Walter with the Benz Patent Motor Car"
  - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Führerschein-Benz-Patent-Motorwagen.jpg"
    caption: "My newest driver’s license for when I hit the road in the Benz Motor Car"
```