Willkommen im Museum

When a work trip seemed to start and end with everything but the star, I managed to cook up a white lie and dash off to the Mercedes-Benz Museum with only two hours to spare before closing time. As you approach the building you can sense the grandeur that awaits inside – but trust me this museum beats every expectation. The Mercedes-Benz Museum, which opened in 2006, is Stuttgart's most visited museum, with about 800,000 (in 2023) visitors annually. The building is modelled on the double helix of a DNA spiral. In its interior, on an area of 16,500 m², 160 vehicles and over 1,500 exhibits are on display. The current building, which stands directly outside the main gate of the Daimler factory in Stuttgart, was designed by UN Studio – A Dutch architectural firm. It is based on a unique cloverleaf concept using three overlapping circles with the centre removed to form a triangular atrium recalling the shape of a Wankel engine. One only realizes the significance of the design once you start the tour. Daimler is the world's oldest automobile manufacturer, with a history that goes all the way back to the 19th century. Encapsulating this history is an onerous task that  the