Auto Museums: Never lost in translation

Automobiles break language barriers.

When you mingle with Czechs, Germans, Swiss, French, Austrians, and Italians in any European auto museum, you only need one universal translator to understand one another: And that is the automobile. In the over eight auto museums I visited in 20 destinations of my European tour, I, along with all other automobile enthusiasts from all over the world, gravitated to the same iconic cars, touched the same metal beasts, oohed and aahed over the same engines, and gamely posed with the same shiny, moving landmarks of history.

In a nuthsell, here was my itinerary: At the Czech Republic, I went to Mlada Boleslav, to the Skoda Auto Museum, which portrays more than 100 years of automotive history. From there I went to Munich, Germany to check the BMW Welt and Museum. Then it was off to Salzburg, Austria to see the private collection of Manfred Rotschne (at the Manro Classic auto and music museum). Then off to Stuttgart to visit the Mercedes Benz and the Porsche museums. Then at Alsace, France, I checked on the National Automobile Museum in Mulhouse, and to Lucerne, Switzerland for the Swiss Museum of Transport. At Monaco, I gazed at Prince Rainier III’s private car collection.

I’m not kidding, folks. Here’s the amazing evidence:

Stuttgart Porsche Museum

For Porsche loyalists, this can be the best gift you’d ever give to yourself. Enjoy an up-close experience of the history of Porsche. The museum shows more than 80 vehicles, exemplifying the beginnings to the present days. Located at Porscheplatz in Zuffenhausen, it’s Porsche in an ambience that truly fits this phenomenal brand.

Alsace, France – Cité de l’Automobile

This is probably one of the most prestigious car collections in the world, seeing itself as being to cars what the Louvre is to art. Check the Bugatti Royales, including the famous Coupé Napoléon, the 150 Bugatti, Hispano-Suiza, Ferrari, Rolls-Royce, Maserati, Maybach, and Mercedes models. It can be dizzying to try to take in the hundreds of cars from all the historical periods. A former Mulhouse woollen mill, with its typically 19th century architecture, this museum began when Fritz Schlumpf established his fabulous collection of 437 cars belonging to 97 different brands.

Swiss Museum of Transport

Among the eight I have visited, this is probably the most comprehensive. It shows the development of transport and mobility on road, rail, water and even in space. It also covers modern communications in a manner that is diverse and exciting. Over 3,000 items, covering an exhibition area of some 20,000 sqm are spread out and housed in attractions such as a film theater, planetarium, the Swissarena and the Gotthard Tunnel Show. Rounding things off with the Hans Erni Museum, a visit to the Swiss Museum of Transport is nothing short of memorable.